Magnus Chase and the Obligatory Hogwarts AU
by I'mwastingmylifeinhere
Summary: Do you really need a summary? The title says it all.
1. New year, who dis?

**And here it is! If you read Bound X before this, here is the Hogwarts AU I talked about! If you haven't read Bound X, here's the Hogwarts AU this ship needed! (like seriously, how come there hasn't been one yet?) Anyway, lets get on with this! Hope you enjoy! (Why am I using so many exclamation marks?!)**

* * *

"Watch where you're going!" a man yelled as Magnus run past him.

"Sorry!" the blonde boy called out without turning to look at the man or stopping. He was already late enough as it was, he couldn't afford to stop to apologize, even if he did feel sorry for almost knocking that man over.

Of all the days he had to be late, it had to be this one! One is not simply late for the first day back at school. Especially when your school is in the Scottish Highlands and you need an hours long train ride to get there. Magnus has never been late for the Hogwarts Express. He normally arrives early to find a good compartment.

But normal has changed a lot for Magnus lately. His mother normally wakes him up and drives them to King's Cross, she normally kisses his cheeks before he gets on the train even though Magnus is embarrassed and she normally waves goodbye at him as the train starts moving, telling him to "Be careful, pumpkin!"

That's what happens normally. But it won't happen again.

 _Stop, don't think about that. You_ can't _think about that._

"Sorry! Excuse me! Coming through!" Magnus said as he elbowed his way through the crowded platform, his backpack bouncing on his back as he run.

Magnus really liked his backpack. It might be old and worn out but it was Doctor Who themed and Magnus had had it for years. His mother had given up a long time ago to get him to get a new one. Now, if Magnus said his backpack was his most valuable possession, it wouldn't be just sentimental talk.

It was quite literally all he had left. Everything he owned was inside that backpack. His wand, his cloak, his trunk with his schoolbooks. You might wonder how all that fitted in a backpack, but Magnus' Charm Professor and his Head of House, Professor Blitzen, moonlighted as a fashion designer. He had made a line of all sorts of bags that could have a car in them and still look and feel half empty. The charm he put on his backpack was the only reason why Magnus had been able to hold onto his belongings on the streets.

Magnus had always been a bit paranoid about the wall leading to platform 9¾. What if he run into the wrong wall? What if it was out of order and Magnus run into a wall? What if it was out of order and only part of him passed through? He couldn't think of anything more humiliating than have his but stick out for a wall.

" _Your butt won't stick out of the wall, pumpkin," his mother had said when he told her about his worries when he was a second year._

 _Magnus scowled at the nickname. Some kids from his old school had heard his mum calling him that and teased him about it. It was a lame pet-name._

" _How do you know?" he asked her. "I'm sure people would take hundreds of pictures. I can already see the internet articles:_ Teen boy's arse sticks out of wall at King's Cross station."

 _His mother laughed and ruffled his hair. "If that happens then my butt will be stuck as well," she told him._

He used to go through the wall while holding his mum's hand or, when he grew up a bit and thought he was too cool for that, holding onto her clothes. She was always the one who stepped through first, with Magnus following behind her.

But now he rushed forward, not even flinching as he run into and through the wall.

The difference between the Muggle and Wizard platforms never seized to amaze Magnus. A moment ago, he was running through crowds of coffee-fueled, nameless people on their way to work, the air filled with the station racket and a cacophony of voices all speaking at the same time, either on their phones or to other people.

Now he was on a platform smaller than the other's he run through in his haste but just as lively. People in robes were talking to one another, saying goodbye to their children or catching up with some friend. There were trunks with owl cages on them everywhere, and Magnus saw a man trying to catch his daughter's owl that had gotten out of its cage. The air seemed to buzz and glow with magic. It called out to Magnus like it was a part of – which, okay, it was- and gave him this refreshed feeling, like he stepped into the cool ocean after a hot day.

Magnus rushed onto the train with the last few students as the train gave its last warning that it was starting its journey.

The train's doors closed behind Magnus and he took a moment to catch his breath. _I made it, I made it._ By the time he could breathe normally, the other students that had gotten on the train with him had already left. Magnus started walking down the corridor to find where his friends were until he realized he had no idea in which compartment they were.

Normally, when his mum was still here, she'd wake him up early so they could get to the station without rushing and Magnus would be one of the first kids to arrive so he would find a compartment for him and his friends. No he had no idea where they were.

 _Guess I'll have to check every compartment until I find them or they find me._

With a sigh, Magnus started walking down the corridor. He knocked on every compartment door before opening it (he had manners, thank you very much) but he didn't find his friends in any of them. There was a group of girls gossiping among themselves in one and a group of boys hunched over their chocolate frog cards in another, but his friends were nowhere to be seen.

He knocked on the last door of the wagon. "Yes?" came the answer from inside and Magnus pulled the door open.

There was a kid about his age in the compartment, with black hair like coals and two toned eyes, one warm brown and the other bright amber. There were no other students in the compartment, which was weird since there's normally at least three in each. The unknown kid sat against the window and looked at Magnus with curiosity, as if the blonde was an unexpected surprise.

"Do you want something?" the kid asked and only then did Magnus realize he had been staring. His heart did a weird little thing, like it just did a loop inside his chest. _This kid sure is pretty,_ he thought before. _Wait, what?_

"I, um…" he stuttered. Before he realized it, he had blurted out "Can I sit here?"

The kid seemed surprised for a moment before nodding. "Sure. There's no one else here."

Magnus sat down opposite of the stranger, holding his bag on his lap. The other kid ignored him, just staring out the window at the changing landscape. Magnus was fiddling with the straps and zippers of his back, feeling a strange de ja vu, as if he was back at first year. He felt like a nervous eleven-year-old trying to make friends on his first day at Hogwarts.

He stole a glance at the stranger in front of him. Magnus couldn't remember seeing the kid at Hogwarts before. It was weird. Hogwarts didn't get new students. It was literally the only Wizarding school in the country, any child with magic in the UK would go there.

"So, um, I'm Magnus Chase, fourth year," He said, hoping he didn't sound too awkward. "And you are?"

"Alex-" the kid stopped, as if considering something to say, before continuing. "Alex Fierro, fourth year too."

"So you're my age? I don't think I've ever seen you around Hogwarts." _Obviously you haven't, you wouldn't have forgotten eyes like that._ The nerd in Magnus was awakened and he couldn't help thinking that in a fantasy world, those were the eyes of the Chosen One or of someone with hidden mystical powers or all sorts of other cool things.

"Of course you haven't," Alex said, bringing back Magnus from of his nerdy thoughts. "I've been going to Durmstrang up until now."

"Why did you change school?" Magnus asked. It wasn't unheard of for parents in Britain to send their kids to Durmstrang or Beauxbatons, but it was still extremely rare.

The easy going smile on Alex's face disappeared and Magnus realized he stumbled on a topic he shouldn't ask about. "Family issues," Alex finally said, looking out of the window instead of at Magnus.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the other teenager didn't talk or look at Magnus. In an attempt to keep the conversation going, Magnus resorted to the classic going-to-Hogwarts-for-the-first-time topic.

"So, what house do you think you'll be sorted in?" he asked.

Alex's shoulders relaxed, dropping from their hunched up guarded position. "My parents didn't really like Hogwarts, so I don't know anything about it other than that there's four different houses and each has a different color. How do you get in each house, anyway?" Alex asked. "Do you have to apply or something? Are they split in boys and girls?"

There was a strange tightness in Alex's voice at the 'boys and girls' part, but maybe Magnus had just imagined it.

"Well, you get in each house based on what you're like," Magnus started explaining, doing wide hand gestures. "The red house is Gryffindor and to be in it you have to be brave and courageous. Their symbol is a lion and their common room is in one of the towers. Ravenclaw's common room is also in a tower and their symbol is an eagle. Ravenclaws are clever and creative and their color is blue. Then there's Slytherin, which is the green one and they are ambitious and cunning. Their common room is in the dungeons and their symbol is a snake. Finally, there's Hufflepuffs, who are kind and loyal. They're the yellow house and their mascot is a badger. The common room is next to the kitchens."

"Oh, lucky," Alex said, taking all the information in. "But if it's based on your character, how do they know which house to put you in? Do you take a test?"

Magnus chuckled at that. It seemed weird to him, getting sorted in your house by a test instead of the Sorting Hat.

"No, we don't. A professor calls your name and you sit on a stool as they put the Sorting Hat on your head. It sees into your head and then announces which house you are in."

Alex looked at him like he was crazy. "You get sorted by a talking hat that sees into your head?"

Magnus nodded. "Yeah. Why, how did you get sorted in Durmstrang?"

"There aren't any houses like yours in Durmstrang, just the Boy's Dorms and the Girl's Dorms."

"Oh." Magnus said. He remembered back in second year when the Triwizard Tournament happened. All the Durmstrang students wore the same clothes, but so did the kids in Ilvermorny, where Annabeth goes to school, and they had houses. He had assumed Durmstrang would work in the same way. "That's kinda boring."

"And stupid," Alex added.

"So what house do you think you'd be in now that you know how they're separated?" Magnus asked.

Alex shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe Slytherin? It sounds cool, and I like green."

As the other teen talked, Magnus watched in amazement as Alex's black hair turned green. The color started from the roots and moved towards the ends of Alex's hair like a wave washing over a beach.

"How did you do that?" Magnus asked, almost jumping out of his seat.

Alex raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Do what?"

"Your hair!" Magnus said, pointing at the green locks. "It's green now!"

Alex took a lock of hair and looked at it. "Oh, yeah. It is green." The phrase was said with the kind of nonchalance one would say "Oh, it's raining."

"Your hair is green and that is your reaction?" Magnus asked baffled.

Alex shrugged. "I'm a metamorphmagus. I can change things like my hair and eyes easily."

"That's awesome!" Magnus was basically jumping on his seat now. He looked like a little kid who just saw a cool magic trick. "So can you, like, change your face to look like someone else or grow taller?"

"No, at least not yet. Hair and eye color is easier, but changing my face or my whole body includes changing my body structure, which is more complicated and tiring. I'll need a few years before I can do that."

"That's still so awesome! You could look like anyone you want! You'd be a great spy."

Alex chuckled. "Yeah, it would be useful if I was a spy. I'd be the new James Bond." The teen took a pose, hands clasped together like a gun. "My name is Fierro. Alex Fierro."

Magnus laughed at the over the top impersonation. Alex did a dramatic hair-flip and everything, giving the imaginary camera a sexy glance. (Or it was supposed to be sexy, I guess. It was more like a person squinting to read something because they took off their glasses.) The other teen managed to hold the pose for a few more seconds before falling back on the seat laughing.

"So what house are you in?" Alex asked.

"I'm a Hufflepuff," Magnus said. "I have friends in the other three houses too. I can introduce them to you. You might end up sharing a room with one of them."

A weird look flashed in Alex's eyes at the mention of rooming with someone but it was gone before Magnus could see exactly what it was. "Aren't your friends on the train?" Alex asked. "How come you aren't sitting with them?"

"I was actually searching for them when I knocked on the door-" Magnus said, only to be cut off as said door was pulled open.

"There you are!" Mallory said, red curls flying everywhere like always. "We've been looking for you everywhere!"

"I was looking for you too, but then I met Alex and I got caught up talking," Magnus explained.

"Well, your new friend can come sit with us, if he wants," Mallory said. "We'll make room-"

"She" Alex cut her off.

"Huh?"

"Call me she," Alex explained. "Unless and until I tell you otherwise."

Mallory was taken aback for a moment before nodding. "Okay," she said. "Come on, we're in the next wagon."

They walked to the compartment Magnus' crazy friends were sitting in. Magnus sneaked a glance at Alex as they walked, her hair still bright green. He was surprised, but not as much as he would be before this summer. A horribly big number of the other kids his age he met on the streets this summer didn't identify as the sex they were assigned at birth or thought the whole boy/girl binary wasn't for them. They ended up homeless because their parents didn't accept them. Magnus didn't even know their parents, but he still hated them. _Oh, I know what will make it clear I love my child; kicking them out because of who they are! What a brilliant idea!_

If Magnus knew where they lived, he would _gladly_ through a dozen dungbombs at their houses. Their houses would stink like shit to match their shity personality.

Mallory opened the door of a compartment without knocking and yelled "I found Beantown!" as she walked in. She plopped down on the seat next to T.J., who was leaning against the window and flipping his wand like he was taking part in the wand-flipping Olympics.

Alex looked at Magnus. She smirking so much Magnus new it wasn't a good sign. "Beantown?"

"My mum's from Boston. We lived there until I was about six," Magnus explained. Then he turned to his friends and said "And I've told you not to call me that!"

"Magnus, mate, how have you been?" Halfborn asked as Magnus walked in, patting him on the back. By now Magnus knew that a 'pat' to Halfborn was a slap to normal people, but he had gotten used to the giant boy's shows of endearment.

Magnus was pretty sure Halfborn _was_ a giant. Or at least half giant. He towered over most students – and even some of the shorter teachers – and he had towered over them since Magnus met him back on his first year. Yet somehow he didn't look lanky at all – then again, being a Beater on your house Quidditch team probably gives you plenty of muscle.

"Good, good," Magnus said, as the sarcastic-shit part of his brain answered _Living on the streets because my mum died._

"Guys, this is Alex, I met her while looking for you," Magnus said as he did the introductions. "Alex, the redhead is Mallory Keen, Slytherin. The huge one who just broke my back," Halfborn smiled proudly at that, "is Halfborn Gunderson, Gryffindor. T.J is the one in the army jacket, he's Ravenclaw. And lastly, this is Samira 'Sam' al-Abbas, she's in Slytherin."

"It's nice to meet you," Sam said, offering Alex her hand. Her green hijab was around her neck, letting her dark hair fall on her shoulders. Sam was one of the prettiest girls in their year and one of the most formidable. Magnus may or may not have rooted for her (multiple times) when she'd put some rude jerk in their place.

"Nice to meet you too," Alex said as she took Sam's hand and shook it. "Magnus wasn't lying when he said he had friends in all houses."

"Magnus is friends with everyone," Halfborn said. He was sitting next to Sam, with his legs kicked up so they rested next to T.J's legs. "I think being friendly is a Hufflepuff qualification."

"I'm not friends with everyone!" Magnus protested.

"You're friends with the house elfs," T.J pointed out. T.J was the rock in their group. When everyone else would get too carried away, even Sam, he would keep his cool and get them to pull their shit together. It happened more often than Magnus would like to admit.

Magnus opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. "Okay, point taken."

"So, Alex," Sam started, "What year are you in?"

"I'm in fourth year. You?"

"We're all in fourth year too, except for Halfborn," T.J said. "He's in fifth year."

Alex sent a glance to the large boy. Despite being only a year older than Magnus, he already had stubble on his face, whereas Magnus didn't even have a hair. He fit the stereotypical image of a big and strong Gryffindor pretty much perfectly, what with his arms being as thick as Magnus' thighs and his eagerness to get into a fight. What didn't fit the Gryffindor stereotype was his almost limitless thirst for knowledge. How he hadn't been sorted into Ravenclaw no one knows.

"Is you name really Halfborn?" Alex asked. Magus was surprised the question took this long; everyone always asked about Halfborn's weird nickname.

"Nah, it's a nickname. I was a large baby and my mum said it was like half of me was born and the other curved out of rock or something. The name stuck."

There was a knock on the door and the snack lady came in, pushing a cart filled with chocolates, caramels, chips and all sorts of unhealthy snacks your dentist wouldn't want you eating. T.J. bought a large bag of every-flavor- beans (because he's hardcore), Mallory got a few jelly slugs and liquorish wands, Sam got two cauldron cakes and Halfborn bought pumpkin pastries and a chocolate frog, as did every one. It was a tradition in their group to all get a chocolate frog and see who got the best card.

The only one who didn't buy anything was Alex. Even Magnus bough a chocolate frog, despite the fact he didn't have enough money to waste on sweets, because he didn't want his friends to suspect anything. He knew he couldn't keep the fact he was homeless from them for long, but he really didn't want to tell them on the first day back at school.

"Aren't you hungry, Alex?" Mallory asked. Her liquorish wand was hanging from the corner of her mouth like a limp noodle and bobbed up and down when she talked.

"Nah, I'm not hungry," Alex said, but her eyes kept going back to the food cart, which hadn't left the compartment yet.

"Nonsense," Halfborn said through his mouthful of pumpkin pastries. "You're looking at the snack cart like Magnus looks at falafel."

"Alex," Sam said seriously. She was looking at the other girl straight in the eye and her face was so serious she looked like she was about to give a speech in front of the Ministry. "Do you want to be our friend?"

"I-what?"

"Do you want to be our friend?" Sam repeated.

Hearing it twice didn't help Alex's confusion any. She still looked at them as if they had just grown a second head. _Why is she so surprised we want to be friends with her?_ Magnus wondered. _She's really cool._

"You want to be friends?" Alex asked. There was so much confusion in her voice and in her face you would have thought she was a muggleborn that was just told magic is real.

"Yeah, you seem really cool," Halfborn said.

"And if you've had a one-on-one conversation for twenty minutes or more with Magnus, you're already his friend," T.J added. "And if you're friends with one of us, you're friends with all of us."

Mallory nodded. "We're a package deal. Five losers for the price of one."

"So do you want to be friends?" Sam asked once more.

"Uh, okay," Alex finally said awkwardly. She was still taken aback by the question; one moment they were talking about food and the next Sam was asking her to be their friend.

No one had even asked Alex that before.

"Well, if you're our friend and then you take part in our traditions," Mallory said. She left some money on the cart, took a chocolate frog and gave it to Alex. The green haired girl looked down at the sweet in her hands like it was the Queen's crown or something similarly impossible for her to have in her hands.

"I… thank you," Alex said quietly as the snack lady walked out. She looked down at the chocolate frog and smiled to herself.

Magnus raised his chocolate frog in the air. "To our new friend!" he toasted.

"To our new friend!" everyone cheered along, their frogs held high in the air.

Alex was looking at them baffled, like they were maniacs and she was very seriously reconsidering being friends with them (Magnus understood that, he had that thought a lot too.) In the end she smiled and raised her chocolate frog too.

"To my new friends!"

* * *

Getting off the Hogwarts Express was chaos. It always was, since the first time Magnus got off the train, a nervous first year trying desperately not to lose sight of the huge man that was the Keeper of the Keys and Grounds, Hunding. Once the train came to a stop, its engine finally ceasing to growl like beast and its door opening, waves of children poured out. The air was filled with a cheerful cacophony of voices and what once felt overwhelming to Magnus was now familiar.

"First year over here! First years over here!"

Hunding was beckoning first years towards him to take them on the boats to Hogwarts. The children were apprehensive to go near him at first, which was understandable. Hunding wasn't exactly what you would describe as a welcoming figure. He was burly and huge, with a wild beard and eyes hidden under his bushy eyebrows. Magnus had somehow stricken up a weird friendship with the man and he'd always joke that Hunding looked like a Viking. (Which was a joke Hunding like quite a bit, since he came to every single Halloween party since as a Viking.)

Magnus and the rest of his friends walked to the carriages that took the students of years two and above to Hogwarts. The carriages looked like normal horse-pulled carriages, the kind you see in old-fashioned movies. The difference was that these didn't have horses pulling them along, they moved on their own. They had seemed so amazing to Magnus when he first saw them; everything magical did. Despite being a halfblood, he had grown up around more of the muggle world than the wizarding world. There wasn't a lot of magic his mum could show him since she was a Squib.

"Why are we going to Hogwarts on carriages and they go in boat?" Alex asked, pointing over at the first year students following Hunding like sheep follow a shepherd.

Mallory shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe to make more of an impression on them. It's quite impressive, seeing Hogwarts from the boats as you arrive."

Magnus would have agreed with her - he had been thinking about that since his second year - but he couldn't look away from the carriages. Or, to be more precise, what was _in front_ of them.

Horses. But no, not exactly. Because normal horses don't look like this. The creatures, whatever they were, looked like inky black skin was pulled taunt over a horse's skeleton. Every single bone was visible, and if they weren't so creepy Magnus would have counted them all. Large, bony wings sprouted from their backs, like the wings of a freakishly large bat. There was something weirdly reptilian about their faces, like they were part dinosaurs, which freaked out Magnus even more (he had had dinosaur nightmares for a week after he first saw _Jurassic Park_.)

But when one turned and looked at him, Magnus decided that the scarier thing about them was their eyes. They were completely white, no iris whatsoever. Against their pitch black skin, they looked like twin moons looking at you from the night sky. Magnus felt a shiver run through his spine. He felt as if they were staring into his soul, able to see all the things he didn't want to let himself acknowledge.

Like his mum. And how she would never be there to pick him up from Platform 9¾ ever again.

"Magnus?" T.J asked. His hand was on the blonde's shoulder and his voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "You have been staring at nothing for a while now. Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah. Everything is alright," Magnus said. "Anyway, let's get on a carriage before they leave us behind."

Magnus quickly moved to get in the closer carriage, eager to get away from those creepy horse-bat-dinosaur things. What he didn't see as he rushed into the carriage, however, was Sam glancing between him and where the beasts were with a skeptical look on her face.

It wasn't long before they arrived at Hogwarts. The entrance was filled to the brim with students, children in black and red, green, blue and yellow flooding through the huge main doors. Professor Sif was standing at the side of the entrance hall, calling over the first year students. Her long hair spilled down her back like melted gold and it seemed to shine against the dark fabric of her robes.

"I think that's where I should go," Alex said, pointing over at the blonde woman.

Magnus and his friends walked over to their respective house tables when they entered the dining hall a.k.a. "Feast Hall of the Slain". Yeah, not the most welcoming name for a place where you go to to eat, but Magnus had to say he loved the reactions first years had when they first heard of it. Magnus didn't know why the hall had gotten that nickname to begin with, the information had been lost in the many decades the school was open, but not knowing made it even better (and he wasn't sure he wanted to know).

Professor Sif stood on top the small stage in front of the High Table. A stool stood in the center of the stage with the sorting hat on it. The first years sat in a row in front of the stage, their backs facing the rest of the students. Alex stood out among them; she was at least a head taller than most of them and although her hair was black again, it still had some green in it that hadn't gone away yet.

As Professor Sif called out the first years to be sorted after the Hat was done with its song, talk of the new student spread through the hall in whispered voices. Magnus couldn't blame them for being curious, but at the same he felt so sorry for Alex. It had been nerve-wrecking enough getting sorted normally; he didn't want to imagine what it would have been like with everyone staring at and taking about him.

"Fierro, Alex!" Professor Sif called out in a loud voice. There was a second of silence among the students before the whispering started even more intense than before as Alex stood up and walked to the stool.

"Did she say Fierro?"

"Like _the_ Fierros?"

"I didn't know they had a child."

"I heard that their child went to Durmstrang."

Magnus looked around him confused. Why was everyone talking about Alex's family name?

"Why are everyone talking like that? Who's Fierro?" Magnus asked a girl next to him who was in his Magical Creatures class.

"You don't know who the Fierros are?" she asked in a surprised voice.

"Should I?" Magnus didn't know and didn't really care to know about wizarding politics. Names that were meant to be important just went through one ear and out the other, unless he heard it a bazillion times.

The girl nodded frantically. "Yeah! They're like the richest wizarding family in the UK!"

"And I heard they're mixed with dark magic," a boy piped in.

"Oh, those are just rumors!" the boy's friend said.

"You don't know that! They may be true!"

Magnus turned to look at Alex, who was sitting on the stool with her back straight, looking confidently at the crowd of unknown students in front of her. She looked so composed and sure, but having a reputation like this follow you everywhere must be tiring.

Professor Sif placed the Sorting Hat on Alex's head.

"Hm, let's see where to put the young sir," the Hat mused out loud. It normally said things like these before it started figuring out where to sort each student. Most students, when they replied to it, didn't know whether they should talk out loud or just think very hard.

Alex chose to talk out loud. "Actually," she said calmly, "it's lady today. She and her."

The whispering returned tenfold.

"Oh, excuse me then, young lady," the Hat said. It didn't talk anymore, simply humming as it decided where to put Alex.

For the few moments it took the Hat to make its decision, the whispering among the students was almost unbearable. Students didn't seem to acknowledge it, but while one person whispering didn't make a lot of noise, when a lot of people did it created this buzz that spread through the room like a wave, each person's words adding to it and making it louder.

"Slytherin!" the Hat shouted its choice.

Professor Sif removed the Sorting Hat from Alex's head and the girl stood up and moved to the Slytherin table. Cheers and woops and fists pumping high filled the air as Alex took her seat in the Slytherin table. As Headmaster Odin gave his start-of-the-year speech (which no one listened to), Magnus saw Mallory pat Alex on the back as Sam smiled at her and the three girls laughed at something somebody from Slytherin said.

"And now," Headmaster Odin said, "let's start the feast!"

* * *

 **And that was the first chapter! (again with the exclamation marks?) Updates will be about every ten days, so look out for that. Fell free to leave comments and kudos (PLEASE LEAVE THEM) because that is literally the source of my power.**


	2. I'm so fabulous! except for that jerk

**Chapter 2, ladies, gentlemen and dear folks! I had some things I wanted to say, but I forgot what they were, so on with the chapter!**

* * *

"Good morning," Magnus greeted his friends as he sat down at their table.

The Hall of the Slain only had the four long House tables in the Start-of-Term Feast, End-of-Term Feast and special occasions like Halloween. On every other day, they were replaced by their much shorter counterparts and several circular tables that weren't separated by house. Apparently, the four houses used to be much more competitive, and the staff thought that a good way to counter that would be to not separate students during meals, so as to encourage friendship between the houses.

It worked pretty well. Magnus and his friends wasn't the only group of friends in school with students from different houses, not by a long shot. Magnus really couldn't imagine what it would have been like if he couldn't sit with his friends at breakfast, lunch or dinner simply because they were in different houses.

"Morning, Magnus!" Halfborn said as Magnus sat down. He was the last of the group to arrive, everyone else already seated and eating various degrees of a healthy breakfast. The most healthy one would be Sam, who's breakfast was made up of mostly fruit. Halfborn's plate, on the other hand, had so many sausages, pieces of bacon and fried eggs on it that looking at it was enough to give you clogged arteries.

"Did you sleep well?" Sam asked as she was spreading marmalade on a slice of bread. Sam was the one who took care of everyone else. She always made sure the other's were getting enough sleep and eating enough. She was basically their mum, with T.J taking the role of the dad as the next most responsible member of the group.

"Yeah. It's really good being back," Magnus said. _And sleeping on a bed with a roof over your head._

Halfborn made a bad siren noise through his mouthful of eggs. "Nerd alert!"

Mallory flicked one of her grapes at him. "Says the person who wanted to take all the elective courses. I don't know how you weren't sorted into Ravenclaw."

Halfborn picked up the grape from where it had landed on the table after it bounced off his face and popped it in his mouth. "Because these babies can give mean punches in addition to writing great essays." He took a silly bodybuilder pose and flexed his arms. They were pretty impressive.

Mallory rolled her eyes and popped another grape in her mouth, but her cheeks were as red as the apple Sam was eating and they all saw it.

"So, how do you like the Slytherin common room, Alex?" Magnus asked, partly to move on from Mallory and Halfborn's flirting (they were so obviously in love, when would they get together?) and partly because he was really curious. The dungeons were pretty creepy.

And then, as an afterthought "Oh, and, uh, are you a girl today or a boy?"

"Girl. She and her," Alex said, after a split second of surprise that someone actually asked. She had sat down just moments before Magnus came, and despite the others asking too, it felt surreal to go from what her family had been like to treated with respect.

"And the common room is really cool!" she continued. Her hair was green today again and the tie around her neck was hanging much more loosely than her parents would have ever allowed. "I mean, I thought you were kidding when you said it was in the dungeons, but it really is. And they have this big glass wall that lets you see into the lake!"

"That must be really cool," T.J said. He was spinning his spoon between his fingers like he does with his wand. T.J was constantly a ball of energy and, and distracting as his masterful pen/wand/whatever-spinning could be, it was the only thing that could keep him relatively still.

"So who are your roommates?" Magnus asked.

"Mallory and Sam," Alex answered.

"Oh, yeah, you've had an empty bed since Sadie left," Halfborn said, looking up from his food long enough to talk.

"Who's Sadie?" Alex asked, turning to look at Mallory and Sam. "You mentioned her yesterday but you didn't tell me who she was."

"Sadie was our old roommate," Sam said. "She transferred to Ilvermorny last year after her uncle took custody of her and her brother. She was in second year."

The four Houses had different systems in their dorms. In Gryffindor, they were separated in boys and girls and all the students of the same year slept together.

In Ravenclaw they had co-ed rooms of four, with two girls and two boys in each (it was because everyone had an equal right to knowledge, or something like that, if Magnus remembered correctly). It was also common to find rooms with students from different years in the same room if one year had an uneven number of students.

In Hufflepuff they had rooms of five with mixed years. Magnus shared a room with a sixth, fifth and second year. The seventh year that was in his room had graduated, so there was a new first year in the room now. This system was meant to build trust between students, as well as provide the younger students a sort of mentor and the older students a chance to revise when they helped the younger ones.

Slytherin had rooms of three separated by gender and, like in Ravenclaw, if there was a year with an uneven number of students, younger students could be roommates of the older ones. That had been the case with Sadie.

"It's a bummer she left," Mallory said. She was buttering a piece of toast and she waved the buttery knife around as she talked. She didn't hurt anyone, but she smeared butter on the table. "She was really fun. I'm sure you would have liked her."

"Yeah, remember that time she put all the school's owls in Helgi's office?" Halfborn said.

"Oh, Helgi was complaining about the bird poop for days!" T.J said with a fond smile on his face. Sadie had been a little devil but she was tons of fun.

Alex looked between the rest of the group and their smiling faces with that confused expression you get when you friends talk about an inside joke you're not in on. She might not have met this girl they were talking about, might never will, but whoever could put dozens of owls in someone's office had earned her respect.

"So what elective courses are you talking?" Sam asked Alex.

"Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies."

"Muggle Studies?" Halfborn asked perplexed. "I had heard the Fierros didn't like Muggles so much."

Halfborn's comment was met by a sharp elbow to his sides by T.J and another grape to the face by Mallory. "Dude, that was rude," T.J said.

"It's okay," Alex reassured them. "My parents don't like Muggles, that's true. But I don't live with them anymore and they have no say in what I choose to study either."

Magnus averted his eyes from Alex and decided to look at his cereal instead. There was a sharpness to Alex's voice, a coldness that let Magnus know that whatever had happened between Alex and her parents to make her talk like this about them wasn't pretty and he shouldn't bring them up.

Alex sighed and the tension left her shoulders. "Anyway, what are you guys taking?"

"We all take Care of Magical Creatures," Magnus said. "We wanted a class to take all together and we all like it."

"Except for Halfborn," Mallory piped up. "He's a year older so he doesn't have classes with any of us. He chose to take it 'cause he's a nerd."

Halfborn rolled his eyes at her. Mallory poked her tongue out at him.

"Mallory and I take Divination," T.J said, ignoring his two friends obviously flirting with each other.

"I take Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, like Halfborn," Sam said.

"I take Ancient Runes with Sam and Muggle Studies," Magnus said.

"Oh, so we have that class together," Alex said. "Wait. If you all take Care of Magical Creatures, does that mean you, Sam and Halfborn take three elective courses?"

"Yep," Mallory answered for them, popping the 'p'. "We have a lot of nerds in our group."

"Oh, did you get your timetables?" Sam asked. The other teens nodded and pulled their timetables out of their bags. They put them side by side on the table and examined them to see if they had any free periods in common.

"Seems like we all got two free periods together in Wednesday," T.J said. "Right after History of Magic."

"Thank Merlin!" Mallory said, slumping back in her chair. "Erikson's lessons are _sooooo_ boring!"

The small talk continued through breakfast, until Sam reminded them that they should leave soon so they'd get to class on time. Halfborn and T.J left to go to Transfiguration, while Magnus and the girls went to Defense against the Dark Arts.

DADA was taught by Professor Jack. His surname was Sumarbrander, but none of the students could pronounce it (and Professor Jack thought it was too long) so he insisted his students just call him Jack. (A lot of teachers at Hogwarts insisted on that, now that Magnus thought about it.) It had seemed weird to Magnus at first, especially since a lot of his teachers in Muggle schools would scold students if they called them by their first names. A lot of times, Magnus didn't even know what the first name of one of his teachers was. He had had the same English teacher for years before learning that his name was Henry.

Professor Jack was the Head of Gryffindor and he was one of the weirdest teachers at Hogwarts (then again, all of them were weird). He reminded Magnus of the best friend in coming-of-age movies, the one who was his friend's wingman, called people 'dude' and cracked bad jokes. He didn't focus too much in the theory in DADA, instead focusing on the practical aspect. According to him,

"You don't defend yourself by having your nose buried in a book and memorizing a block of text!"

His lessons were a mess, to be honest, but a good mess. He was laid back and relaxed, especially compared to other teachers. He didn't mind if students whispered something to a friend now and then as long as they paid attention to the lesson and understood what he said. There was always a constant buzz of conversation in his classroom and students were more comfortable around him, something he prided himself in. He was goofy, but he was a great teacher.

"Alright class, welcome to your first DADA lesson of the year!" Professor Jack said cheerily as sat on his desk. Not in the chair, no, _on_ the desk. This is what Magnus meant by relaxed.

"Now, you might have noticed we have a new student among us," he went on. "Alex, would you like to say something about yourself? For example, your hobbies or things that interest you."

Alex got up from her seat next to Mallory. She was wearing the boy's school uniform, Magnus noted. "My name is Alex Fierro and my pronouns are she/her unless I tell you otherwise. I like pottery and hiking and I hope I can try out for the Quidditch team."

Alex sat back down after she finished talking. Magnus saw the other students sent glances at each other and whisper silently between them. It had been clear from last night that Alex had become the new hot topic of conversation at school. But then again, that was just natural when you had a rare new transfer student, especially one from an important family. (At least, Magnus had gathered that the Fierros were important. It sure seemed like that from what everyone was saying.)

"Alright," Professor Jack said. "Now, this year we will learn about the Unforgivable Curses…"

* * *

The first few weeks of school went by smoothly. Magnus and the gang would go to their lessons and hang out together whenever they had free time. They'd study outside or in the library after lessons were over and they'd eat together in every mealtime.

The routine was nice. After how hectic that summer had been, it was so relaxing for Magnus to be back at school. To have to worry only about doing his homework and waking up on time instead of where he'd find his next meal. To be able to sleep on a bed and _actually_ sleep peacefully, without having to worry about being robbed or attacked.

Felling normal again, felling like nothing had changed… it was great.

Some things had changed, though. For example, they were no longer a group of five, but of six. Despite the fact they had only known Alex for a week, it already felt like she had been their friend for years. She and Halfborn had stricken up a weird rivalry/friendship and would constantly compete; about who could run to class faster, about who could devour more potatoes at lunch, about who would look away first. Mallory, Sam and Alex had become inseparable, what with sharing a room and all, and they teased each other constantly. Alex would tease and joke with Magnus all the time too, and she'd join T.J when he made sarcastic comments.

Most of their free periods were now spent wandering around the castle. Since Alex was new, she didn't know her way around the castle and it could be a pain in the neck to navigate it. Whoever had a free period with Alex was in charge of being her tour guide and showing her the various rooms and corridors of the Hogwarts castle.

That was what Magnus and Alex were doing right now. Alex and Magnus had just finished their Muggle Studies lesson with Professor Thor and Magnus was showing Alex around the west wing of the castle.

Professor Thor was a giant of a man with ginger hair and an unkempt beard. His surname wasn't actually Thor. It was something in Norse that was difficult to pronounce, and since it started with 'Thor' everybody just called him that. He didn't really mind, since he loved Thor from the Marvel movies. Professor Thor was the biggest fanboy Magnus had ever met. His lessons were pretty much just watching movies/TV shows and analyzing them. He though it was more effective to see Muggle culture in action rather than just read the textbook. 'Analyzing' them meant talking about fan-theories and shipping and whatnot.

At first, Magnus had just picked Muggle Studies because it was easy; he had grown up in the Muggle world after all. He took it again in third year because it was fun. They were just a bunch of nerds in there.

Magnus and Alex were walking down one of Hogwarts' long corridors. To be honest, Magnus wasn't sure he had been here before, but that didn't deter him. He stopped in front of painting and suits of armor to give Alex a grandiose backstory, making up what he said as he went.

Alex had figured out that Magnus didn't know what he was saying, but she didn't really care. All his over-the-top moves and stories were fun and she was really enjoying it. She walked behind him, stroking her chin in mock thoughtfulness and saying fancy art stuff she had heard her parents say when they'd drag her with them to those dreadful art exhibitions. It wasn't the painting or statues that she didn't like; she loved those. But she couldn't stand having to spend an entire afternoon around snobbish boring rich people that misgendered her all the time.

She was wearing the girl's uniform today. Not that there was much of a difference, really. The uniforms were identical, save for the trousers or skirt. That wasn't a big deal either since girls could choose to wear trousers if they wanted to, though most chose to wear skirts.

The uniform that had been given to Alex when she got sorted was a boy's uniform. That's what she wore the first few weeks of school. She wanted to wear a skirt too, like the rest of the girls, but she had been hesitant. Wearing a skirt was what had gotten her hurt back at Durmstrang. It was what had led to her sleeping under bridges and searching for food in trash bins.

When she got on the Hogwarts Express, she had told herself that she wouldn't care now. That she'd make it clear from the start to everyone who she was. And despite things having gone smoothly up to now, she was still scared.

"I'd really like to wear the girl's uniform," she had said one night. Sam and Mallory were setting out their uniforms so they'd put them on quicker the next morning (Mallory has a bad habit) and Alex was lying on her back on her bed. She hadn't realized she spoke out loud and not in her head until Sam turned to look at her.

"You mean the skirt?" she asked. Sam wore trousers instead of skirts because they were too short for her.

Alex had tensed up. She hadn't realized she had spoken out loud. "Yeah," she answered hesitantly.

"They didn't give you any, did they?" Mallory asked. "We can talk to Professor Sif to get you some."

Alex raised her eyebrows in surprise. "She would do that?" Professor Sif was really strict. You better be quiet and pay attention in her class or you'll get the scolding of your life and have so many house points deducted that you'd need to be a genius to get them back.

Mallory shrugged. "Sure. She let you room with us, so I don't see why she wouldn't get you a few skirts if you asked." She plopped down on her bed and lay back against her pillows. Mallory had enough pillows on her bed for a dozen people to have a pillow fight.

"You can borrow some of mine until then, if you want," she said casually as she searched in the drawer of her bedside table for her 'phone' (it was the weird rectangular thing that lit up but Alex didn't know what it did).

Alex had jerked up. She sat up on her bed and looked at Mallory, who was swiping her 'phone' for some reason, with eyes as wide as dishes.

Alex's staring made Mallory look up from the glowing object in her hand. "What? You're staring at me like I just grew a second head." After a second, her eyes widened in fear. "Oh my God, tell me I haven't. Halfborn didn't slip some potion in my drink as a prank again, did he?"

"What? No, no, you're fine. It's just… you want to lent me your skirts?"

Mallory shrugged again. "Yeah, as long as they fit you. They must fit you, you don't look that much bigger than me."

"You could take mine if you want," Sam said. "I don't wear them anyway."

Mallory and Sam kept talking about whose skirts would fit Alex better and which boy's size translated in which girl's size. Alex stared at her folded hands on her lap, trying to will the tears away.

 _It's too much,_ she though, _this is too much._ She wouldn't have dared to tell any of her friends back at Durmstrang (not that she had any, at least not any real ones) that she wanted to wear a skirt. Even if she did, they wouldn't have acted nice about it. Her parents had made it very clear what they thought of their _son_ in a dress.

She never would have dreamed of having friends that would suggest she borrows their skirts.

But she did. She did and it was too much.

"Alex?" Sam asked. Alex had sniffed and the muffled sob that escaped her cause Sam to stop talking to Mallory and look at her. She put her hand on her shoulder worriedly. "Alex, are you alright?"

Alex sobbed again. She was pressing her hands on her lips to keep back her sobs but it didn't work. _Too much. It's too much._

"Have you never worn a skirt before?" Mallory asked. Alex could feel the mattress of her bed dipping as Sam and Mallory sat down next to her.

Alex shook her head. Technically, she had worn a dress, not a skirt. And she never had anyone who was this casual about her wearing one.

"Do you want to?" Sam asked. God, Alex could practically feel the worry in her voice.

Alex nodded her head quickly. "I do," she managed to get out between her sniffling.

"Are you afraid of wearing one to school?" Mallory asked quietly.

Alex shook her head. _No, I'm not._

Then she nodded. _I am. But I don't want to be._

Alex felt a set of arms wrapping around her. Mallory. "It's okay," the redhead said. "It'll be fine. If anyone says anything mean, I'll beat them up! I'll get the others to help too."

Alex's body was racked with sobs. Her shoulders were shaking and she kept hiccupping. Mallory's words just made her cry harder.

When Mallory and Sam hugged her, Alex felt like her heart was bursting. It was as if her chest was filled with something warm and good and it made her feel so, _so_ happy and _it was too much._

"Thank you," she whispered to them.

Once Alex had calmed down and Sam wiped her tears away like a concerned mother, Mallory jumped to her feet. She declared a slumber party and proceeded to throw pillows at them. They fought and they fought and they fought until there were feathers all over the floor and Sam had to spell Mallory's pillows back to normal.

They stayed up late, much later than they were supposed to, especially on a school night. Mallory put some music on her 'phone' (another strange thing that devise could do) and they danced and jumped on their beds. At one point, Mallory run down the hall to some other girl's room and borrowed a bag of make-up. She and Alex attacked Sam and held her down as Mallory applied horrible lip-gloss and blush on her face. By the time they were done, they all looked like clowns, what with their lip-gloss stained all over their faces and the colors as mismatched as possible. The red lip-gloss on Alex's cheeks formed a giant smile and Mallory said she looked like The Joker (whoever that was).

They then proceeded to making their wardrobes a mess. They pulled out everything and dressed up in the weirdest combinations ever. Sam was wearing a skirt over her trousers and her pajama top was tied around her neck like a cape. Mallory had one of their ties tied around her head and she walked around in her shorts and bra, with the scarf she dag out of the closet hang around her neck like a feather boa. Alex had on Mallory's school skirt and her colorful socks on her arms like long princess gloves.

They fell back on Alex's bed, laughing their heads off without making any sound. Their shoulders shook by their laughter and their mouths were wide open and smiling but they made no noise, clapping their hands like seals.

"Do you feel better now?" Sam asked, the first one of them to be able to talk properly after all that they did.

Alex nodded. "Yeah. Thank you."

"No problem. Us girls have to stick together," Mallory said. "I mean, we'll stick by you when you're having a male day too, but you know what we mean."

From then on, Alex would borrow Sam's skirts and wear them around in their room. Sam had suggested she does that to ease into it and be more comfortable with the idea. Every time she wore one they would be really supportive and tell her she looked good or that it suited her (Mallory wolf-whistled once).

It was today that she finally decided to wear it to lessons. Her heart was pounding like a drum inside her ribcage as she got dressed. She had looked at the mirror one more time before leaving the safety of their room, with a final thought of 'Screw this, I'm not backing out now'.

She had been walking out of the common room with confidence (as much as she could manage) when Professor Sif stopped her. "Miss Fierro."

Alex had stopped dead in her tracks. _Fuck, she's gonna call me out on my skirt. I spent all this time working up the courage and now I'm going to be humiliated in front of the entire common room._

But then her dread had turned into fear and she clenched her hands into fists. _I'm not taking it off even if she gives me detention._

"Straighten your tie, Miss Fierro," Professor Sif had said. "It's crooked."

Professor Sif had walked away, leaving Alex looking after her utterly baffled. _That was not what I expected._

Strange behavior from Professor Sif aside, Alex had made it to the Great Hall feeling great. She had one of those song that Mallory had played for them stuck in her head (something about being fabulous) and it was playing in her mind like a soundtrack (they learned about that in Muggle Studies).

The rest of their group had been just as supportive as Sam and Mallory. T.J had complimented her the moment he saw her and as they were heading to their Charms lesson, Halfborn walked in front of her to clear the way and yelled "Make way! Hot stuff coming through! And this time I'm not talking about me!" Magnus had complimented her too, after a moment of staring at her skirt. It made Alex feel a bit sad, that he might not be as okay with her as the rest of their group, but at least he wasn't mean about it.

"And this is the armor of Sir Reinhart of Baltimore, who died from a humongous dump after eating his mother-in-law's cooking." Magnus was pointing to one of the various suits of armors in Hogwarts. He had made his accent sound as over-the-top and cringe-y as possible and his expression reminded Alex of a stuck up snobby butler (she had met her fair share of those).

"My, my, that must have been horrible," Alex said, giving her voice the same snobbish air. She may have been imitating her step-mother, but no one could prove that. She saw a couple of students walk by from the corner of her eye, but she didn't pay them much mind.

Magnus nodded solemnly. "It was, indeed." He moved over to the painting close to the armor suit. It depicted a fair with people drifting around and having fun. There was a jester there, a Duke and a lady in a impractically huge dress who was getting drunk off of wine.

Magnus had just started explaining the significance of the painting, much to its residents' amusement, when Alex's face began to hurt. She could feel her skin splitting on her cheeks and warts erupt on her cheeks like volcanoes. It felt as if someone was pulling her nose from her face and stretching it like rubber. Her eyes burned and her vision blurred by tears and when she tried to wipe them away, it just made it worse.

"Alex? Alex, are you okay?" Magnus asked worriedly. He'll admit, it was a stupid question, but what did you expect him to do when his friend's face suddenly started mutating out of the blue?

Magnus was trying to think of something to alleviate Alex discomfort when he heard snickers. He looked up to see a couple of students, fifth years perhaps, practically cackling together. One's hand was still on his wand.

"Did you do this?" he demanded from the boy. There was no reason to ask, really, because the answer was obvious. What Magnus wanted to know was "Why did you do that?"

"Why not?" the kid asked. The way he asked that made Magnus even angrier. There was no regret, no sign in his voice that showed that maybe he realized he fucked up and shouldn't have done that. He sounded like he was perfectly content with the fact he had just turned another students face into a mess of pimples and warts with a nose as large as Pinocchio's.

"It wasn't enough that he went around asking to be treated as a girl on some days and as a boy on others, he had the nerve to wear a skirt to school!" The boy went on. "If he's a freak like that it's no wonder the rumors actually turned out to be true!"

"What rumors?" Magnus asked, though he wasn't sure he had the patience to let the boy talk before punching him.

"That the Fierros disowned their heir, of course!" the boy answered. "I mean, it was bad enough he was an illegitimate child, but this?"

Alex didn't speak. She stood behind Magnus, looking as if she wanted to beat those boys up and cry at the same time.

"Shut up," Magnus growled at the boy. Actually _growled._ There wasn't any other way to describe how he had sounded.

"Why? I'm just telling things how they are."

Magnus was about to draw his wand and cast a hex on the other student when someone interrupted him mid-spell.

"What is happening here?" Professor Sif demanded. For someone as beautiful as her, she looked absolutely terrifying when she was angry. "Why is Fierro looking like that?"

Magnus pointed at the other kid. "He cast a hex on her!"

Professor Sif turned to the student. "Is that true?"

"He was asking for it!" the boy yelled, pointing at Alex like a five-year-old throwing a fit. "He came to school in a skirt!"

"I do not see the problem with one of my girls wearing a skirt," Professor Sif said coldly. "Fifty points from Ravenclaw and detention with me for an hour a month."

"What? But I didn't do anything wrong!"

"One hundred points. Now leave before I make your detention longer too." She turned to the boy's friend, who hadn't talked at all during the whole thing. "As for you, twenty points from Ravenclaw for not stopping your friend."

The boy walked away sullenly, his fists clenched by his side. He clearly wasn't happy with this. _Good,_ Magnus thought.

"Mister Chase, please take Fierro to the infirmary," Professor Sif said. "I must go speak to their Head of House."

Magnus nodded as Professor Sif left to find Professor Hearthstone. Alex was standing at her place, glaring holes into the floor. There were tears shining in her eyes and Magnus could tell she was fighting them down.

He reached out to take her and hesitated. He took he sleeve instead and tugged her along.

"Come on, Alex," he said. "I know a shortcut to the infirmary. There's not a lot of people there."

Alex didn't talk as they walked to the infirmary and Magnus didn't either. She kept her head bent low the whole time and Magnus walked as fast as he could without running so he wouldn't draw attention to her. He doubted she wanted anyone to see her like this.

After Nurse Eir applied a salve to Alex's face that would get rid of the warts and spelled her nose to its original size, she allowed Magnus to stay with her for a bit, since their free period wasn't over yet and, according to her, "You heal better when you have friends by your side."

"Is your face feeling better?" Magnus asked. He was sitting on a chair next to Alex's cot. The infirmary in Hogwarts didn't have the same stark white feeling to it as any other hospital Magnus had gone to. He assumed it was because it walls were made from warm beige stones and not sterile white.

Alex gave a little nod but didn't speak. Magnus saw her bit her lip, like she was trying to hold the words back, the way a dam held back the water. But the dam broke and the words spilled out like waves.

"You agree with him, don't you?"

Her words were so fast, Magnus had to do a double-take. Her hands were folded on her lap so hard her knuckles had turned white.

"With who?" Magnus asked. Alex didn't answer. "You don't mean that git in the hall, do you?"

She nodded. She didn't look up at Magnus when he spoke. Instead, she kept staring at her hands, at the bed, out of the window, anywhere but at him. Like she couldn't bear to look at him.

Magnus' eyebrows scrunched in confusion, as if you had just told him that the earth was a cube and the sun was a big lamp. Like what he was hearing was completely illogical. "Why would I agree with him?"

That's when Alex finally snapped her eyes up to look at Magnus. "Oh, come on! I saw how you looked at my skirt this morning. You think I'm weird too!"

"What? No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did! Don't lie!"

"Okay, I might have stared but it wasn't because of the skirt- well, no, it was because of the skirt, but not like that! I just haven't seen you in a skirt before and you looked good! I was just surprised. Not that you looked good, that's normal –" Magnus stopped abruptly. He was rambling.

"I don't think you're a freak," he said slower. "Same goes for Mallory, Sam, Halfborn and T.J. I'm sorry that boy said those things about you and if you give the signal they'll have a hell of a week, but neither me nor any of the others agree with them. You are who you are and no stupid git has a right to tell you that's wrong. It's none of their business, anyway."

Alex looked at him with something akin to amazement in her eyes. It wasn't until Magnus stopped talking that he realized how strong his voice had sounded.

"Thank you, Magnus," she said softly. "Sorry I jumped to conclusions."

"It's okay. And you don't need to thank me. You joined our friend group and that means we are all ready to inflict our wrath upon anyone who has wronged you. We have several different options for you to choose from."

Alex raised an eyebrow and giggled. "Really? Like what?"

Magnus smiled wide. "Well, let me tell you what is included on the menu…"

* * *

 **I remembered what I wanted to say! If you want to hit me up in tumblr, my url is imwastingmylifeinhere (yes, I'm not that original)**


	3. Fashionistas

**So, yes, I'm horrible with finding chapter titles. In case you want to know, the other pottential title for this chapter was "Angst on the rocks". Take that as you want.**

* * *

Magnus had been right. The Ravenclaw boy's next few weeks had been horrible. Not only did all his housemates glare at him for losing so many points, but detention with Professor Sif could be absolute hell (or that's what Halfborn had told Magnus). Add to that the prank Mallory and the rest of them had pulled on him as payback for how he treated Alex, and Magnus was feeling pity for the boy. It wasn't that Magnus had forgiven him, far from it, or that he thought he didn't deserve it, because he did, but it was still a lot for one person. Hopefully he'd learn from it.

When Alex didn't show up in lessons the rest of the day and Magnus told the others what happened, they were furious. T.J had been the most apologetic one, since the one who said such horrible things to Alex was from his house, but Alex kept telling him he had no reason to be sorry. Mallory had almost stormed off to beat up the kid like an angry Gryffindor before her Slytherin side kicked in and she realized it would suit her better to be sneakier about this. Halfborn was literally an angry Gryffindor and it took T.J and Sam holding him back to stop him from doing something stupid. Sam had gone full-on mama bear and had even agreed to help them pull the prank. Sam _never_ agreed to help them prank someone.

What was the prank? With Sam and T.J's help, Mallory brewed a powerful stink potion, with some imaginative extra ingredients courtesy of Halfborn, such as dirty Quidditch socks and used toilet paper. T.J sneaked it inside the boy's shampoo while Magnus made a distraction in the hall (read: tried to console a crying first year who had agreed to help in exchange for ten chocolate frogs).

The result: the boy stunk like a trash bin no matter how hard he tried to wash it off for a week.

It had been a bit over a week since the incident and things were going well. Their first Hogsmeade visit was that weekend and the Halloween feast was approaching. Spirits were high and the Hall of the Slain was as busy and noisy as ever as Magnus and the gang ate breakfast.

"I'm telling you, it's a good idea!" Alex said. She shook her fork for emphasis, despite the fact there was still a piece of sausage stuck to one end. There were different shades of green in her hair and she had explained to them she was practicing her morphing abilities. Changing small parts was good for her control and precision.

She rarely left her hair black, Magnus had noted. Every since the start of the school year, she had never spent a day with black hair, which Magnus had learned was her natural hair color. It was always some shade of green.

"It's a bummer she changes it," a girl in Magnus' Astronomy class had said. "I wanted to see the famous Fierro hair. But I guess metamorphmagi like to change their appearances a lot."

"Fierro hair?" Magnus had asked confused. Did Alex's parents own a shampoo company?

"Yeah. Have you never heard what they say? They say you can immediately tell when someone is a Fierro from their 'hair as black as night that shines like polished steel in moonlight'. I wanted to see it."

As weird as Magnus found the fact someone had made an eerie, rhyming saying about Alex's hair, he had to admit it was accurate. He had never seen Alex's black hair under the moon, but he had seen it on the Hogwarts Express and it was definitely as black as night. (Countryside nights. Nights in the city weren't black, they were a washed-out, foggy navy.)

If her hair was such a tell-tale sign of who her parents were, Magnus could understand why Alex preferred to wear it differently. She didn't like her parents. Whenever someone brought them up, she became closed off like a turtle and changed the topic. The rest of their group had learned that her family was a topic they shouldn't go near.

"We're not dressing up like some Muggle cartoon mystery solving group for Halloween!" Halfborn said. "Plus, we're a person too many. We can't do that."

"Scooby has an annoying nephew, you can dress up as him," Alex said sneakily. "You have the attitude."

"What was that, greenie?" Halfborn asked as he leaned closer to Alex in a threatening way.

Alex leaned in too. "You heard me, you fat ox."

Mallory rolled her eyes and kept buttering her bread. Alex and Halfborn would break out into weird fights all the time. It reminded her of jocks she'd see in stupid American highschool flicks. They never pushed it too far though, and it was all in good spirit, so she guessed it didn't matter.

The two 'rivals' were setting aside food so they could arm wrestle when the mail came. A flock of owls flew into the Hall and everyone stopped what they were doing to watch. The birds were simply majestic as they flew and swept down to deliver their mail. It still mesmerized Magnus after all these years.

Despite knowing it was useless, he caught himself searching the crowd of owls for the one coming to him. He pulled his eyes away from the birds with a heavy heart, reminding himself once more that he wouldn't be getting mail from home this year.

"Don't you have any mail, Magnus?" Mallory asked as she was opening the letter from her parents, like she knew what Magnus had been thinking.

"Yeah, how come your mum hasn't sent you anything yet? Normally she writes to you every week," T.J said.

"She, um," Magnus stuttered out, trying to think of a believable lie. "She got a new job and she said she might not be able to write as much."

"Oh?" Sam said. She looked at Magnus like he was a child trying to hide the broken vase behind his back. Magnus gulped.

As Magnus desperately tried to think of something, anything, a black owl swept down and left an envelope in the very middle of the table. It didn't stay for a treat like the others and disappeared out the window just as fast as it came.

"What's that?" Mallory asked.

On the envelope, in green spidery letters that looked both elegant and deadly, were the words "To my daughters, from Dad".

Sam visible paled. Everyone on the table looked at the seemingly innocent letter like it was a bomb about to go off.

Alex wasn't the only one with parents you didn't bring up. To say Sam didn't like her father was an understatement. She _hated_ him and they all knew it. She hated how he made her mother fall in love only to let her raise a child on her own, she hated how he was never there, not even for her mother's funeral, and somehow expected Sam to love him whenever he felt like showing up.

Sam snatched the envelope from the table and shoved it into her pack so fast you would think it was explosive. When she turned to her friends, clearly shaken, she tried to act like it had never happened. They all played along.

They talked about Halloween and what they would dress up as for the party for the rest of breakfast. The Halloween Feast was a big deal in Hogwarts, to say the least. All students looked forward to it, from the first years to the seventh years. On top of that, however, there was the Hufflepuff Horror Party.

Inspired by Muggle Halloween parties, the Hufflepuff Head of House years ago decided Hogwarts needed one too. Ever since then, Hufflepuff had been in charge of hosting the school's biggest party. Preparations for it were all students in Hufflepuff would talk about from the moment September was halfway over, but any details about the decorations, entertainment or food were closely guarded secrets.

Talking about the party should have helped Sam to get her mind off of the letter Loki sent her, but it didn't. Her mind kept coming back to how it said daughter _s,_ plural, not daughter. Mallory was suggesting something else for them to dress up as for Halloween, but Sam wasn't paying attention, instead glancing at Alex. She was taking part in the conversation and laughing along, but he skin was paler and she moved her hands way more than she needed too.

Loki had always talked about having other children whenever Sam hadn't been able to get him to leave and actually had to talk to him. He said he might introduce them to her one day. She knew Loki was a metamorphmagus too, and that this trait normally ran in families, from parent to child. She was a metamorphmagus like her father, as much as she hated to call him that, and she never heard about a metamorphmagus in the Fierro family.

It couldn't be, could it?

As breakfast ended and Magnus got up to go to class, he saw Sam tug on Alex's sleeve and pull her aside. _What's that about?_ He thought, but he didn't get a chance to ask as he was swept away by students heading to their classes.

It was a cool autumn day as the students of Hogwarts spilled down the streets of Hogsmeade. The weather was getting colder and most students wore jackets or coats. Any stores with tables outside had heating charms put in every table so the patrons didn't get cold and clothing stores had winter wear on display.

"I don't understand how you can go out like this," Mallory grumbled at Halfborn. The ox of a boy was only wearing jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt that didn't look like it was particularly warm. On top of that, he had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"The cold never bothered me. Anyway, I don't understand how you get so cold," Halfborn said. "It's only October and you're dressed like it's the middle of winter!"

"I prefer warmth to cold, thank you very much," Mallory said. She was dressed in boots and a brown coat zipped all the way up, with fuzzy earwarmers over her ears. Mallory always got cold easily.

"Anyway, where do you want to go first?" Alex asked. She was basically bouncing in her place, dressed in her pink jacket. She had never been to Hogsmeade before and she was excited to visit the only completely wizarding village in the UK.

"Well, since it's your first time, we might as well go everywhere," T.J said.

The group of six moved down the street. Unlike with Alex's tours of Hogwarts, no one was her authorized tour guide now. Instead, they all chipped in to add any fun or peculiar details to what someone else was already saying. Alex looked all around her like an excited third year on her first Hogsmeade trip (though considering Magnus had acted like her and worse, maybe he didn't have the right to talk). She had a skip to her step and her cheeks, flushed red from the cold and excitement, were adorned with a wide smile.

"And this," Halfborn said with a flourish, "is our very own _Blitzen's Best._ "

They stood in front of a quaint shop that looked like it had come straight out of a Christmas card. Professor Blitzen, their Charms teacher, liked to take into account the aesthetic of the street and then add his own details when opening a new store – he already had several others all over Great Britain. The result was that his stores both blended in with the overall feel of the area's shopping district while also standing out like a diamond in a pile of coal.

"I knew his name sounded familiar," Alex muttered as she looked up at the sign above the shop. She had this awed expression on her face that all new students had when they realized that one of their teachers was literally the biggest name in the wizarding fashion industry.

"Let's go inside!" Mallory said excitedly. If there was one thing that girl liked more than teasing (read: flirting with) Halfborn, it was fashion. She could tell you everything about the fashion industry, wizarding and muggle, and she had by far the best fashion sense out of all of them. (She kept saying it was atrocious that Magnus would wear black with blue. Magnus didn't really get why.)

Once inside, they were struck with the scent of flowery perfume and nice, relaxing music. Magnus never understood why clothing shops always smelled that nice, but he wasn't complaining. There were rows upon rows of clothes hung in their places, stands with folded pants and little islands filled with different accessories and other fashionable things Magnus didn't know the names of, but if they were in here they were probably good. Mannequins stood on raised platforms, modeling various outfits. Since they were charmed, they moved around on their platforms and took poses (like mannequins weren't creepy enough as it were).

The big difference between Professor Blitzen's store and any other wizarding clothing store was that it had _variety._ It wasn't just the same old designs tweaked around to look new. Everything was carefully thought out and designed, drawing inspiration from both the magical and Muggle world. Magnus wasn't very knowledgeable when it came to clothes, but he knew enough to know that they looked really good.

After a couple of minutes walking up and down the aisles and looking at everything available in the store, Magnus saw Alex grinning like the devil. _Oh, fuck._

"I have an idea!" she said and everyone turned to look at her with varying degrees of worry or interest. "We each choose a person and they have to try on whatever we pick out for them."

Mallory and Halfborn quickly matched Alex's shit-eating grin and Sam, T.J and Magnus weren't far behind. It sounded simple, but it was the simple things that could go completely and hilariously astray. Whether that was good or bad depended on the outcome.

"I get Halfborn!"

"I get Mallory!"

The two teens exclaimed at the same time, eager to make the other suffer. They run off to search the shop for what they would pick

"Then I get T.J." Sam said with a thoughtful look, like she was already thinking how to better embarrass the boy.

"I'll take Sam," T.J said and started looking around too.

"Guess that leaves the two of us," Alex grinned before running away before Magnus could say something.

The group moved in the store quickly, as if they were hungry men and only had five minutes to grab as much food as they could carry. Magnus' eyes swept over the racks and hangers full of clothes like a hawk, looking for the most ridiculous combination of clothes possible. Five minutes later, when Magnus found the clothes that screamed to him "Pick me! Pick me!", he rushed to the changing rooms.

Little rooms, large enough to fit two people and a stool, were separated from the rest of the room by deep purple curtains. Opposite of the changing rooms the rooms was a wall entirely covered by a large mirror. The rest of Magnus' friends were standing there, with clothes swung over their arms. Thankfully, there was no one other than them there.

"Here, try them on, Mango," Alex said as she shoved a lump of clothes in his arms.

The rest took the clothes they had to wear and disappeared behind the curtains, some giddy like Mallory and others intrigued like Sam. Magnus didn't know what to expect from the clothes Alex picked for him, and while a part of him was afraid what embarrassing garment he'd have to put on, the masochistic side of him also wanted to know what it was.

The group of friends stripped out of their winter wear and into the random clothes they were given. "We all step outside on three," Sam said from her changing room. "One, two, three!"

They all pulled aside their curtains and stepped out. Any fear Magnus might have had about being embarrassed was erased completely when he saw the mess his friends were in.

Mallory was in pencil skirt and blazer, like the ones Magnus had seen Ministry officials wear on TV, but the blazer was black and striped and the skirt was blue. Underneath the blazer was a pink t-shirt that was way too small for Mallory that had a moving unicorn on it. _Halfborn probably got it from the children's aisle,_ Magnus thought. To complete the look, Mallory's frizzy red hair was hidden underneath a huge clown wig that changed colors.

Halfborn, on the other hand, wore a plated grey skirt that sparkled under the light and hardly reached his kneecaps (though Magnus knew it would have been longer on a girl. Or someone less buff). His chest was (partially) covered by a pink crop-top. It had a zipper on the back and Magnus saw Halfborn couldn't zip it all the way if he was to fit in it.

T.J looked like he had jumped out of some horribly cheesy romance novel, those with beautiful women in flowy dresses being carried away by shirtless men on the covers. He wore thigh high boots with little pink bows on the sides and a colorful scarf wrapped around his neck. His chest was complexly bare, his shirt lying on the stool in his dressing room.

Sam was in long, wide disco pants with colorful patterns on them that reminded Magnus of a kaleidoscope. Her shirt was a white blouse with ruffles at the chest and big, dark sunglasses hid her eyes.

As for Alex, she wore a long, evening dress in dark pink that had emeralds sewn into the hem so it twinkled under the dressing room's spotlights. There was a cut in the side to show the wearer's legs and the dress was topped off by a ridiculously puffy skiing jacket that was charmed, like Mallory's wig, to change colors, like you were throwing balls of paint on a canvas. Sitting on Alex's green hair was a princess tiara from the children's accessories.

And lastly, Magnus wore short shorts with a fluffy green pajama top that had a sleeping panda on it and bright purple legwarmer-like socks that reached until a bit before his kneecaps.

"Oh my god, look at Halfborn!" Alex said as soon as she walked out.

"For your information, I rock this skirt," Halfborn said and then posed, bumping out his hips.

"I didn't say you didn't, but that color is just wrong for you," Alex explained. "And it clashes with your crop-top.

"Where did you even find these?" Magnus asked, gesturing incredulously at his shorts. "It's winter!"

"They were in a discount island with items from past seasons," Alex said absentmindedly as she turned around to she herself in the mirror. "Nice dress. Fancy."

"I never thought I'd see T.J in thigh highs," Mallory said, examining T.J's boots. "Why no shirt, though?"

The shirtless boy shrugged. "I thought it'd be funnier this way."

Then, as if a light bulb went off above T.J's head like this was a cartoon, he rushed back in his dressing room to retrieve his camera. T.J had gotten a magical camera for his birthday in second year that could still work even inside Hogwarts. Ever since then, he took pictures all the time whenever they did something together, kind of how Muggle teens would take selfies together. At the end of each year, T.J put all the pictures he had made in an album and after everyone had written in it, he would ask one of the teachers to spell him copies of it so each one of them had a copy.

Thankfully, those photo albums were among the few things Magnus had managed to save from the fire, since he kept them in his backpack. He couldn't imagine losing years of memories with his friends.

"Everyone, strike a pose!" T.J said as he set the camera to face the mirror and then posed with his legs out to put emphasis on his boots. Everyone else followed his lead and took the most ridiculous fashion model pose they could think of. It took everything from Magnus, from all of them, really, to keep a straight face through it all and the moment the clicking sound was heard from the camera and the picture was taken, they all burst out laughing.

"Let's do more!" Alex said excitedly.

Everyone agreed enthusiastically and T.J quickly set the camera to take a few more pictures. Said pictures were as over the top and ridiculous as you would expect from a group of teenagers. In one, they had their arms swung over each other's shoulders, swinging their legs like saloon girls dancing. Then Magnus, Alex and Halfborn posed with fingerguns like they were Charlie's Angels (the reference was lost on Alex and Halfborn, them being purebloods and all, but it didn't matter). In another, T.J dipped Alex like they were on the cover of a cheesy romance novel. After that, they all tried to hoist up Alex so she lay horizontally in their arms in a 'draw me like one of your French girls' pose (needless to say the dropped her the moment the picture was taken because it was hard to keep her up). They took one where they all had a disco pose and, of course, a simple one where they gave each other bunny ears and looked into the camera with huge smiles on their faces.

They eventually had to leave the store when Professor Blitzen came by and told them that they should go enjoy the rest of Hogsmeade too. They didn't leave before they managed to get their Professor to take a picture with them too.

Their clothes put back on their hangers, the group of friends left the shop to explore the rest of the village. They messed around like they did in Blitzen's Best in the joke shop as well, trying out some of the sample gags that were lying around, like whoopie cushions and fake noses. They were told off pretty quickly by one of the shop's employees but they managed to turn T.J's hair blue before they had to leave.

"Look on the bright side," Alex said. "You look good in blue! Plus, it's your house color."

They ended up in Valhalla, the most popular pub in Hogsmeade and the place where all Hogwarts students would _at least_ stop by in a Hogsmeade visit. Halfborn rushed in and, thankfully, table 19 was free. The giant of a boy practically hurled himself across the room to get to the table before anyone could take it from them. The rest of the group, much saner than their burly friend, walked to the table calmly. A few of the youngest students looked at Halfborn confused, but the older students were much too used to this to bat an eye.

"How come we always sit at the 19th table?" Alex asked. "Halfborn acted like he would die if he didn't sit at this table and we always sit at table 19 in meals. Am I missing something?"

"Not really," T.J said. "We just do it. I'm not sure how it started, really."

"I think we just sat at the 19th table in meals so much, it just stuck," Sam added. "Some kids started referring to us as the group that always sits at the 19th table so we stuck with it."

"We've made all them think there's some dark, mysterious reason why we do it," Mallory chipped in. "Most know that it's probably nothing, but they don't really want to risk it if there is something they don't understand behind it."

Alex nodded in understanding, though Magnus could see in the glint in her eyes that she filed the information under 'potential ways to scare first years'. When the waitress came by, they each ordered a butterbeer and a bowl of snacks to go with it. They kept talking, joking around like teenagers do, and going from one random piece of information to the next. T.J proved to be a great source of gossip, to Alex's apparent surprise. She had pegged Mallory, maybe even Magnus, to be the ones who knew what happened with other people's lives, but no, it was quiet, often completely distracted T.J, who knew a lot of interesting things about people and yet didn't realize they were interesting or worth mentioning.

When the food and their drinks came, Halfborn and Alex started another one of their little contests. They kept throwing bits of food at each other and opening their mouths wide to catch it. Needless to say most of it ended on the table. Fortunately for all of them, Sam knew the Heimlich maneuver and saved Halfborn when a piece of food stuck in his throat. Unfortunately, the food landed on Mallory's face, who had to run to the bathroom to clean herself.

"Hey, Magnus?" Sam said when they were laughing at one of T.J's jokes. "Can you come with me outside for a minute?"

"Uh, okay," Magnus said awkwardly and got up to follow Sam outside.

The chilly air hit Magnus like a brick when he stepped outside, too used to the warm and stuffy air of the pub. The sun shined from behind the grey clouds and Magnus had spent enough winters at Hogwarts to know that the time when the streets would be covered with snow was nearing. He couldn't wait to have snowball fights with his friends, even if he would end up with snow shoved down his shirt.

But thinking of snow and winter brought back memories of Christmas. Christmas trees with twinkling lights and red balls hanging from the branches, stockings hanging over a picture of a fireplace they stuck to the wall because their cheap London flat didn't have a fireplace, countless nights he spent trying to stay up so he could see Santa Claus. The one time he managed to stay up and saw his mother in a Lady Santa Claus outfit, leaving him his presents under the tree. How she explained to him the next morning that Santa's wife only delivered the presents of very special children. Burning his tongue on hot chocolate and getting a candy cane stuck in his hair. Crisp winter mornings spent in the park making snowmen and having snowball fights.

He swallowed, pushing down the knot in his throat that was the telltale sign that he was about to cry. He turned to Sam, trying to think of anything but his mother. Sam's green hijab rustled in the chilly autumn breeze. Her expression was somber, her eyebrows furrowed together. Sam was an honest person and, as collected as he could be, she wore her heart on her sleeve. Standing next to her was enough to understand how she was feeling; her mood hit you in waves, like warmth from an open oven.

"Is something wrong, Sam?" Magnus asked.

"That's actually what I wanted to ask you," Sam said. She crossed her arms under her chest and Magnus wasn't sure whether it was from the cold or from something else. "Is there something wrong with your mother?"

Magnus felt his blood run cold in veins and dread settle in his stomach. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't see your mum on the Platform when we were leaving at the start of the year, she hasn't written to you or sent you anything and whenever we bring her up you're always really vague and change the topic."

"There's nothing wrong," Magnus said. "I told you. My mum has a new job so she's just really busy. Everything is alright." It shocked Magnus how sincere he sounded. He could almost believe what he was saying was true, he wanted to believe it was true so, so much.

But as honest as Magnus might have sounded, it didn't trick Sam. She sighed, her breath coming out in a puffy white cloud. "I've known you since we were eleven, Magnus, I can tell when there's something wrong. Please don't lie to me."

Magnus swallowed down the emotion building up in his throat, threatening to rise up and choke him. He didn't want to lie to her. Sam was one of his best friends and he wanted so much to just open his mouth and spill everything out to her, tell her everything that happened from start to finish. But he was afraid, afraid of relieving that night, afraid that if he went back he wouldn't be able to come back.

"I'm fine, Sam," he said. Keeping the emotion from bleeding into his voice was like trying to hold closed a submarine door when the water slammed against it on the other side. You were terrified it would burst open and you'd drown, yet as hard as you pushed back, water still came through the cracks.

Sam's eyes shined with disappointment and hurt. Whether it was disappointment at him for lying to her or at herself for not getting him to open up, he didn't know, the same way he didn't know whether the hurt in her eyes was there because she thought he didn't trust her enough to tell her or because she felt sorry for whatever he was going through. Despite the reason, Magnus still felt his heart clench painfully when he saw Sam like that.

"You're not, Magnus," she said, almost pleadingly. "You're never fine when you say that, especially when you say it when no one asked you." With a heavy sigh, she stepped closer. "Is your mother okay? Is… is she ill?"

Magnus must have flinched visibly because the hurt look in Sam's eyes increased tenfold.

Maybe it was bad that he wished his mother was seriously ill, but… but he'd rather have her here, with him, even if she was bedridden and weak, because at least then she wouldn't be _gone._ At least then they'd be hope, Magnus could ask for help and find her a doctor, she could get better.

Expect she couldn't because there's no _getting better_ when you're dead.

Sam took a deep breath and tentatively rested her hand on Magnus' shoulder. "You… you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to. I know how hard this can be, but please know that I'm here for you if you need help. We all are."

Magnus nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, alright. Thank you."

He walked back into the pub with Sam, wishing his words hadn't sounded so hollow, wishing he could wipe away the pain from Sam's eyes. Wishing he could just curl up in his mother's embrace and let the world around him disappear.

* * *

 ***hides behind the couch* Don't blame me for the angst, it just happened.**

 **If you want to hit me up in tumblr, my url is imwastingmylifeinhere (yes, I'm not that original)(please don't actually hit me)**


	4. Locker Room

**And her it is, folks! I hope you enjoy this and just know that I've never written a sporting event before, so any comments on the game are very appreciated.**

 **Btw, I'm sorry in advance.**

* * *

The Hufflepuff Horror Party had come soon after their Hogsmeade visit and it was _great._

Of course, that was to be expected. The Hufflepuff House prided itself on, among other things, throwing great parties, and they all put their best efforts into it. The party took place in the Hall of the Slain, the night after the Halloween Feast. The hall was decorated so it was dark, like you were standing inside the Forbidden Forest in the dead of night. In fact, fifth year students from Hufflepuff, when asked to practice spells that made plants grow faster in Herbology, had practiced on tree seeds from the Forest. This resulted in full grown trees decorating the Hall, completed with spider webs and fake bats that flied as if they were real. The traditional floating Jack 'o Lanterns of Hogwarts weren't missing either. They drifted across the room, casting their dim, in many cases multicolored light upon the partying students like magical disco balls.

In the end, while they might not have gone to the party as the Scooby Doo gang, they went as the Power Rangers (blame Magnus). That, of course, had brought up the discourse of who would get to be the Red Ranger. In the end, after a lot of fighting and arguments between Halfborn and Alex he preferred not to think back to, they had decided Sam should be the Red one. Halfborn was Blue, T.J was Green, Magnus was Yellow, Alex was Pink and Mallory was Black. The might have been incredibly warm in their suits, and wearing their helmets may have resulted to Halfborn stumbling over a group of second years, but hey, they had an excuse to strike ridiculous poses without anyone judging them (that had been Magnus' main argument in favor of this choice).

They had a great time! There were party streamers and confetti all over the place, which the first and second years used to play war. At any given moment, you could be knocked off your feet from a rushing kid who was running away from an attack or on a mission to steal the enemy's supply of party goods. Since Alex had never had the opportunity to partake in Hogwarts' legendary Party War, the table 19 gang joined the younger students, Magnus, Sam and Alex on one side and Halfborn, Mallory and T.J on the other. They threw confetti and party streamers at each other. Halfborn head-locked Alex and rubbed confetti on his hair as he struggled to get away. T.J and Mallory had a full on "snowball fight" with balls made of party streamers and dragged Sam into it too. Magnus used his legendary attack and threw a giant pile of party supplies at the enemy side while yelling "Booyakasha!"

It had become much quieter at ten, when the first, second and third years had to leave because of curfew. The older years, however, were allowed to stay longer and Magnus, like his friends and everyone in his year, were extremely giddy about being able to stay longer. They danced and pulled ridiculous shit, like trying to form a human pyramid even though they had never done that before. They ended up a mess of spandex clad bodies on the floor, wiggling around like fish out of water and trying to get untangled.

Magnus and Alex were by the buffet table, having a competition to see who could find the nastiest Every Flavor Bean. This far in, Magnus had to eat some that tasted like egg, berries, vomit, grass (which tasted surprisingly nice) and pineapple. He was about to eat a green one Alex handed him that could be either bogeys or green apple when Alex talked.

"So what did Sam want to talk to you about the other day?"

"What do you mean?" Magnus asked as he popped the candy in his mouth. Thank goodness, it was apple.

"When Sam took you outside to talk when we were in Valhalla," Alex said. "You didn't look too good afterwards. Neither did she, now that I think about it."

Magnus averted his eyes from Alex, now finding the bowl of candy much more interesting. After his talk with Sam, he had tried to act normal. He had tried to act like everything was fine, but his mood had dampened significantly and, even though he hadn't realized it, all his friends picked up on it. Magnus joked along with them and laughed with them, but he wasn't _there_ with them; his heart wasn't in it.

"Look," Alex said as he stepped closer to Magnus, the candy forgotten completely now. "I… don't know what's happening, honestly. And I'm not good at this whole 'friends' thing, I never got much practice. But everyone is worried about you and… I'm worried too." He paused, taking a deep breath like he was psyching himself up to say what he wanted. "What you said after what that boy did really helped me. I want to help you too and talking to people makes you feel better."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair, pink tonight to match his costume. "I'm not that good in talking to people about what bothers me, so I probably don't have a right to tell you this, but… talk to Sam. Even if you don't tell her everything, getting some of it off your chest will help, whatever it is."

Magnus looked at the bowl of multicolored beans silently. What Alex said made sense, but still… he was afraid.

When he finally talked, he didn't look at Alex. "I thought you'd ask me to tell you what happened."

From the sound of his voice, the notion surprised Alex. "No, you've know Sam much longer. If it's something so bad to make you this miserable, I thought you'd trust her with it more. Plus, I wouldn't know what to do if you cried. I'd just stand there awkwardly."

Magnus sighed. All around them, the music was beating loud and fast as students danced under the shining colored lights. It was noisy and the air warm and even a bit study from the dozens of sweaty teenagers. Magnus had never thought he'd be in a place so bright and _alive_ and feel anything but that. Until now, he had never understood how you could be around so many people and feel so utterly _lonely._

"But," Alex said, his voice cheery. Maybe a bit to cheery. Like he was hoping that his cheerfulness would rub off on Magnus and make him feel better. It didn't quite work. "If anyone has hurt you, then I'm 100% willing to make them pay. That's what friends do, right?"

Magnus gave a pathetic little chuckle. He wondered if Alex could bring his mum back from the dead by punching the Grim Reaper in the face.

"Yeah," Magnus answered absentmindedly. Maybe he should talk to Sam. Maybe it would make him feel better. "Thanks for talking to me, Alex."

"No problem," he said cheerily and popped an Every Flavor Bean in his mouth. Unfortunately for him, it was cat piss. "Eww! Gross!"

Magnus, despite himself, laughed at his friend's misfortune. What Magnus didn't know was that Alex knew perfectly well what that bean tasted like before putting it in his mouth ad it was hardly an accident.

"Come on!" he said after most of the cat piss taste left his tongue and Magnus had had a good laugh at his expense. "Let's go dance with the others!"

"Nah, I think I'm good over here," Magnus said. "I need to do some thinking."

"Nuh uh. No way. I'm not letting you here on your own." As Alex said that, he grabbed Magnus by the wrist and dragged him to the middle of the dance floor. "Plus, I asked them to play that song we talked about in class about now."

"What song?" Magnus asked, right as the band started playing Macarena. He looked Alex dead in the eye. "Seriously?"

She beamed at him. "Yep! Now show me how you dance this again!"

Magnus had meant to talk to Sam after the party. He did, he really did, but… some things are easier said than done. In the week that followed Halloween, he had caught himself about to speak to her at least a dozen times, but every time something always happened and he didn't get the chance to talk. Every time he told himself it didn't matter because he could just talk to her next time. But when the next time came, he still chickened out of it.

Magnus was in the library, doing his homework. T.J was tutoring some younger students for extra credit (not that he really needed it) and he wasn't quite sure where Halfborn was. He was supposed to run some errands for Professor Jack, if Magnus remembered correctly but he wasn't sure. He was sitting by the large window that overlooked the Quidditch field. Mallory, Sam and Alex were practicing along with the rest of the Slytherin team.

Sam was the team's Seeker from this year on since the previous one had graduated. It had been the position she wanted since the beginning, but up until now she had been a Chaser. She was great in the field, but then again Sam was born to fly. Learning how to fly on a broomstick had been what she was most excited about in their first year, and she was amazing at it.

Mallory was a Beater, because of course she'd choose the position when you had to beat up people. She was deadly in a game and might have broken her fair share of bone by accident while playing (both her own and other's). Alex was a Chaser and with their first match of the year this Saturday, she could hardly stay still.

He turned back to the Potions essay in front of him and struggled to get the words to come out. He knew he should have started earlier, but with everything that was happening he couldn't focus on it for long. That resulted with him having to turn in the essay in two days and being hardly half way through the first paragraph.

He sighed again, using an erasing spell to erase the line he had just written. Ugh, why couldn't he write it? It was just a simple essay! And it wasn't even on something difficult, he knew this stuff, but he couldn't concentrate enough to write it.

Or, well, he was concentrated on something, just not what he was supposed to. Struggling to talk to Sam about his mother meant that the topic was always front and center in his brain instead of at the very back, along with all the other horrible things he would have preferred never happened. That, in turn, meant that he had had a horrible mood for _days._

Magnus, well, Magnus was a bottler, if that hadn't been clear enough already. He didn't talk about what bothered him, at least not on his own accord. If something troubled him, he never brought it up, preferring to keep it in instead of annoying people with his problems. If he did talk to someone, it was after the other person initiated it and asked him what was wrong. And even then he wouldn't speak unless the bottle was absolutely filled to the brim and one more drop would make it explode.

But keeping all that in, when the bottle was full and heavy with all the small or big things that bothered him, made him feel horrible. And Magnus didn't like feeling like that, which in turn made him feel even worse and drop by drop the bottle kept filling.

He groaned again, much too loud for someone in a library, and flopped down on the table, letting his head rest on the hard wood. This shouldn't be so difficult and he shouldn't get so frustrated or sad over it but he was and that made it even worse.

The blonde was contemplating asking T.J. to write it for him when he heard the scraping sound of someone pulling back a chair. He looked up to see Professor Hearthstone sitting opposite him.

The Ancient Runes teacher was tall and thin, he reminded Magnus a bit of Jack the Pumpkin King from the Nightmare Before Christmas with his long arms and legs. His hair, complexion and even eyes were so white that Magnus wondered whether or not they would be able to find him in snow. There was a slightly pointy tip to his ears and Magnus knew that he had elf blood in his family, however distant it might be.

"Professor Hearthstone?" Magnus asked, confused as to why the Ravenclaw Head of House would be here. "Is there something I can help you with?"

 _That's actually what I wanted to ask you,_ the Professor signed.

Professor Hearthstone was deaf and talked in BSL and Halfborn had taught Magnus after he asked him because it seemed interesting. A few parents had complained about his hiring in Hogwarts, saying that the fact he couldn't speak would make lessons more difficult for students. A lot also had problems with his elf descendancy and didn't want their children to be taught by him. As T.J. had explained to them, the matter was resolved when Professor Hearthstone sent every single parent who complained about him a letter containing his family tree to show them how far back his elf ancestor was. In the letter he also told the parents that he used a spell to voice his thoughts for lessons, so if they wanted to complain they should first inform themselves, and that, at the end of the day, their children didn't have to take his lesson if they didn't want to.

 _I understand you are not necessarily my student,_ the Professor continued, _however it has come to my attention that something is troubling you and I wanted to help._

"H-how did you realize?" Magnus asked, too tired to even try and lie about it.

The teacher raised an eyebrow. _I talk frequently with Blitzen, and many of your friends are students of mine. They're all worried about you._

Dread filled up Magnus's heart. He didn't want to worry his friends, that was why he didn't let them know what was wrong with him. But doing that changed nothing, apparently, because his friends still worried, and felt powerless to help their friend when they didn't even know what to help him with.

"I-I don't really want to talk about it," Magnus muttered, training his eyes on his unfinished essay.

Professor Hearthstone reached out and raised his face so Magnus would look at him. _I understand,_ he signed, _but as a teacher, I don't enjoy seeing my students in pain. I understand you might not want to talk about some things, and you might not feel comfortable talking about them to everyone. But I know firsthand how much it can hurt everyone around you and most importantly you to keep them in._

Professor Hearthstone sat up straighter. _I am not here to make you talk to me. I understand you might not want to. But letting it out of you will help. If you don't want to talk to a teacher or a friend, you can write about it._

"Like a dairy?"

 _I suppose. What I wanted to say is that you should talk about it if you want to. I can guarantee to you that if you talk to a teacher, they won't tell what you told them to anyone._

Professor Hearthstone stood up, tall and slightly imposing despite being so thin. _However, I cannot make you talk if you don't want to. In the end, it's your choice._

The Ancient Runes teacher walked out of the library, leaving Magnus behind, sitting on his own by the large window that overlooked the Quidditch field and feeling lost.

The sky was bright and the atmosphere was buzzing as the stands around the Quidditch filled were alive with the Hogwarts students, young and old, excited for another match of the wizarding world's most famous sport.

If one where to look at the stand from high up, they would see a sea of red and green. Students of all ages were wearing their house scarves proudly to cheer on their teams. Some were waving banners or flags and there was even a student that had charmed a stuffed lion to roar. The air was buzzing with the cacophony of the students shouts and the game hadn't even began yet. Magnus knew from experience it would get much worse as the game progressed.

T.J. and Magnus were in the stands, excited to watch their friends duke it out in the field. Supporting both teams, they were among the few, if not the only, students dressed in both House's colors. T.J had Halfborn's scarf hanging around his neck and Sam's scarf in hand, prepared to start waving it around when the game started. He had a large hat that had 'Slytherin' spelled out on it in silver, glittering paint and a Gryffindor flag in the other hand. Magnus, in the meanwhile, was wearing Alex's scarf around his neck and, like T.J, held Mallory's scarf in one hand and a Gryffindor flag in the other, with his blonde hair covered by a large Gryffindor hat.

"Slytherin! Gryffindor! Slytherin! Gryffindor!" T.J. practically chanted, turning from side to side and waving his arms around.

"T.J., the match hasn't even started yet," Magnus said, keeping a straight face with great difficulty. T.J. always got over excited about Quidditch matches.

"I'm _practicing,_ " the dark skinned boy said and went back to waving his arms.

Magnus smiled. T.J. was rightfully excited. Quidditch matches between Gryffindor and Slytherin always got the school buzzing with excitement. The two Houses, while not out for blood, were definitely the most competitive among the four. Their matches were always intense and managed to get everyone's adrenaline pumping, even if they didn't know a lot about the sport.

It wasn't long before the commenter started talking, announcing the teams' entrance.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and all you lovely folks in the stands, it's time for the much awaited match between Gryffindor and Slytherin!"

The stands roared with excitement. Magnus could swear the whole pitch was shaking from the power of their voices, and he might have cared about them collapsing and falling down if he wasn't screaming alongside the other students.

The Gryffindor team run in the field, brooms in hand, as the announcer introduced them and gave fun facts about them.

"And Halfborn Gunderson walks in, real name a total mystery. But don't be fooled by his size, because this giant of a man will beat you in grades like he beats you on the field. Will he be able to score points for his team?"

Claps, whistles and cheers rocked the stands as the Gryffindor students and supporters went wild. Their whole team was lined up in the filled, a row of blazing red and gold flowers among the green grass.

"And now, on the other side of the field, please give a warm welcome to Slytherin!"

The announcer did the same thing as before as the Slytherin players walked in, walking proudly in their dark green robes.

"Mallory Keen walks into the field. Petite as she might me, don't underestimate this fiery redhead unless you want a concussion. Though I wouldn't mind getting one from a beauty like this."

Mallory stood next to her teammates with the confidence of a winner, her wild mane of hair pulled back in a puffy ponytail. She didn't seem to have heard the announcer's flirting, and if she did, she didn't seem to care.

"And here we have Alex Fierro! She/her today, folks, and this young girl seems ready as hell to win her team points!"

Alex was holding her broom on her shoulders, like one might hold a stick to carry buckets of water. She beamed up at the stands and the crowd went wild.

"And now, the Slytherin Seeker, the lady of the skies herself, Samirah al-Abbas!" Sam ran onto the field, green hijab fluttering as she run. She had earned herself a reputation in Hogwarts as an amazing Seeker.

Hunding went over something with the teams, probably asking them for a fair game, before releasing the balls. The players shot up after them, fast and fierce. They flew with such speed and precision Magnus got equally scared and thrilled watching them. They flew left and right, high and low, so fast Magnus could barely keep track of them.

Magnus wasn't the best person to describe a Quidditch match to you, mostly because he only knew the basics of the game, like how many points a goal was worth and that the game ended when the snitch was caught. His limited knowledge, however, didn't stop him from realizing the game was bloody _intense._ It was been twenty minutes into the match and no one had score yet. The players flew up and down, throwing balls and catching them, zipping past the stands so fast Magnus' hat was almost blown off.

Sam and the Gryffindor Seeker were hovering above the rest of the players. Their eyes were scanning the field, patiently waiting for the appearance of the Snitch. At one point, Sam suddenly dipped down, chasing after a golden blur. The other Seeker soon followed her, desperately trying to catch up. In his hurry, he crashed into Sam and they both lost their chance at the Snitch.

Another twenty minutes passed and now the two teams had each scored a goal. Alex and Halfborn were in a heated battle over one of the quaffle and neither of them was giving up anytime soon. Mallory and the other Beater flew around and attacked the enemy players. Once, Mallory smacked a bludger so close to a Gryffindor player it only missed her by a hair. The Gryffindor girl, surprised by the ball that had just zipped past her, lost her balance, and fell off her broom. Luckily, the pitch was charmed so if one of the students fell, it was like falling on a trampoline instead of on hard ground.

Magnus' voice was going hoarse by the time Alex scored her second goal. The crowd's excitement was contagious and Magnus's cheeks were flushed red from all the yelling and cheering. He was about to turn to T.J to tell him something when the two Seekers suddenly dipped down. They flew towards the ground, going faster and faster, chasing the tiny golden ball that zipped past the other players.

The whole student body watched with bated breath as the two Seekers were neck to neck. They held onto their brooms with one hand, the other hand stretched forward to catch the Snitch. Down and down they went and Magnus couldn't take his eyes of them.

Then, a breath away from the ground, they pulled up. Magnus wasn't sure whether his heart had stopped beating or whether it was beating too fast. He would never understand how Sam could pull stunts like that without feeling scared.

The two teams had stopped playing, waiting to see who caught the Snicth like the other students. The silence that descended on the field was just as deafening as the cheering had been before.

Then Sam raised her right hand up high to show a pair of gold wings jutting out of her closed fist and fluttering wildly.

The stands erupted with cheers. The Slytherin supporters' yells were loud and happy, and while you couldn't make out what each student was saying, you could still understand how ecstatic they all were to have won the match. Even Gryffindor was cheering, simply happy to have seen such an intense match.

"And Slytherin wins, folks! What an amazing match!"

"We won! We won!" T.J cheered, ignoring the fact that, since they were cheering for both teams, they would have won either way. Still, Magnus didn't have the mind to tell him that because he was too busy cheering along with everyone else. Watching his friends play Quidditch gave him this adrenaline-filled feeling like his whole body was buzzing with energy begging to be released. If this is what it felt like for Sam to be flying out there, no wonder she loved it so much.

The stands emptied slowly as the teams went to their respective changing rooms and the students started leaving for dinner. Magnus was still high from the match. He remembered when he first came to Hogwarts, how excited he had been over the peculiar sport. He wrote to his mum after every single match and even though what he wrote must have made no sense whatsoever, she always seemed so happy to hear his rapid, excited rambling.

His mind wondering off to his mum brought Magnus back to the scary reality of what he had promised himself to do after the match.

Talk. He was going to talk to Sam.

A part of him told him not to. A part of him found excuses, how she must be tired, how he shouldn't bring her down with his troubles after she just won a match. _You can just tell her some other time,_ part of him said.

But Manus knew that if he listened to that part of him then he'd never speak to Sam. And he wasn't sure how much more the bottle could hold before it burst.

One by one, the Slytherin team members left the locker rooms, excited for dinner after such a great match. Mallory, Halfborn, Alex and T.J were talking among themselves and even though Magnus was standing next to them he wasn't paying any attention to what they were saying. The last Slytherin player left too, but Sam was still nowhere to be found.

"Hey, um, where is Sam?" Magnus asked. He really hoped he didn't look like he felt. Like a nervous wreck.

"She's still inside," Mallory said, gesturing at the locker rooms with her thumb. "It's her turn to tidy up the place today. We told her she didn't have to do it since she won us the match, but you know what Sam is like." She shrugged and went back to the conversation she was having with Halfborn.

"Oh, um, I'll go check on her," Magnus said as he slipped away from the group.

Inside, the locker room was, well, like any other locker room. There were white tiles everywhere and wooded benches as well as the ever present musky/sweaty smell that came with a room sweaty teenagers change clothes in. It was eerie to be in here without any of the other players (Magnus had come here with Sam once to cheer her on before a big game), especially when he only knew some of them from the locker room.

Magnus moved through the little rooms, like the boy's and girl's changing areas, the showers and this little lounge thing for before games, but Sam wasn't there. Things were clean and tidy so she must have already finished with this.

He moved deeper inside the locker room. His heartbeat was getting faster and faster and his flight instinct was going crazy. Dread settled in his throat like heavy, gooey slime and it wouldn't go away no matter how hard he tried to swallow it down.

He reached an open door with a sign on it that read "Sports equipment". He heard moving around and rattling from inside and, with the eagerness of a man heading to his execution, stepped inside.

Sam was on top of a stool, putting away some spare Quidditch things Magnus didn't know the name of. Her back was to him and she hadn't noticed him yet. If his flight instinct was going crazy before, now it had gone completely haywire. He bit his lip anxiously. He felt so frightened, like it was his first day of school again and he both wanted and was afraid of going. He was just a scared little child that wanted his mummy, even if he knew she couldn't be here to tell him everything was fine.

Yet, scared or not, Magnus took a step closer and made himself known.

"Um, Sam?"

She turned around to look at him. He green hijab, now pulling around her neck, rustled as she moved. "Oh, Magnus. What are you doing here?"

"I, uh…" Deep breath. "I need to talk to you."

Maybe it was the tone in his voice, maybe it was that he held himself like a frightened rabbit, maybe it was that nothing good ever came out of "I need to talk to you". Whatever the reason, Sam's carefree expression disappeared completely.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she moved closer to him. Her brows were furrowed together, creating a wrinkle between them like every time she was worried about something.

"It's- "his voice broke, "it's about my mum."

The wrinkle became even deeper. Sam's arms were held in front of her body, like she wanted to reach out to Magnus but she was afraid he'd crack if she touched him. He felt like he would.

"What you said. B-back at Valhalla. She's not sick." Another deep breath. And another. They came out shaky, shivering, like leaves in the wind.

"She's dead."

Sam didn't talk. She didn't gasp or anything like that. She stayed quiet, so quiet it was like Magnus was on his own. Even if she wasn't standing next to him, he wouldn't have noticed. His eyes were glued to the ground, to a dirty spot in the floor that was getting blurrier every second.

When Sam finally talked, it was quiet and breathless, as though she couldn't even begin to phantom what she was hearing. "When?"

"T-this summer," Magnus continued. The cork was off the bottle and he couldn't put it back even if he wanted to. "We- we were going to go camping the next day. I had gone to bed early so I wouldn't be tired and- and- When I woke up, when mum woke me up, there-there was smoke. Smoke and-and heat and" a sob tore its way out of his throat, "Mum- she told me to get up and-and we ran to the door but then part of the ceiling collapsed."

Magnus hadn't realized it, too deep in his memories, but Sam had led him to the stool she had been using and sat him down. She rubbed his back but all it did was remind Magnus of his mum doing the same when he cried and his sobs came harder.

"We ran for the fire escape. We-we were almost there when-" Magnus felt like he was going to throw up. "The ceiling collapse again. On-on mum."

A small gasp came from Sam but Magnus kept going.

It was like he was there again. Their small apartment, the place where Magnus had made so many happy memories, turned into a fiery inferno. Smoke and heat and flames everywhere and Magnus was scared, so scared. His tears dried on his cheeks from the heat and his mum held his hand, telling him it was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay. They would get out of there.

They didn't. He did.

"S-she was trapped and-and I tried to get her out but-" Another sob tore his body in half. "I wasn't s-strong enough. She-she told me to run. She t-told me she'd be right b-behind me. I-I grabbed my b-backpack a-and jumped out the window. I la-landed in the ga-garbage bin and I-I looked up e-expecting her to come- but-"

 _It hurts. Stop. It hurts._

"The-the window ex-exploded."

 _Please stop. Stop, please. It hurts._

"She didn't come out."

Sam was holding him close, hugging him. Her body shook with silent sobs and Magnus felt her tears soak the back of his shirt. They stayed like that, hugging, crying rivers, oceans. Sam didn't speak. No 'I'm sorry', no nothing. Sam knew what it was like to lose your mother. She knew that 'I'm sorry's felt like empty words.

She knew there was nothing she could do right now except holding Magnus as he cried his heart out.

Magnus wasn't sure how long he was crying. It could have been a few minutes or it could have been days and he wouldn't have noticed the difference. He cried and cried, leaving wet trails down his cheeks, and he didn't even know he had this many tears in him.

Magnus was crying, still crying, when his friends appeared on the door. Whatever they were going to say –about where Magnus and Sam were this whole time, about missing dinner if they didn't hurry up- died in their throats when they saw their two friends close together, crying like it was the end of the world.

Alex wasn't hesitant to touch Magnus, not like Sam had been. Then again, he was completely wrecked now. There was nothing for her to break.

First it was Alex, then T.J, Mallory and Halfborn. They rushed forward, not a word spoken, and hugged Magnus and Sam. They didn't know what was happening, and they didn't really need too. What they knew was that their friend was a crying mess and maybe, just maybe they could put all the broken pieces of him back together if they hugged him hard enough.

Magnus thought of what people always said when you couldn't move on from a loved one's death. How they wouldn't want you trapped in the past, how they would want you to move on. He wondered if his mother was somewhere out there, anywhere, watching Magnus happily, glad he made the first step.

He liked the idea she was.

Magnus stayed there, crying in the smelly Quidditch storage room as his friends and his mother's memory held him close.

* * *

 **Is it weird I like writing people crying so much?**


	5. Really Dubious Biology

**For all intents and purposes, let's just assume a metamorphmagus that has changed themselves into the opposite sex can still reproduce. I dunno whether that would actually work, but I'm a fanfic writer, not a magical biologist. My science-y readers, I welcome you to look into the science of it because I suck at science.**

 **On that note, I don't know much about Muslim holidays (other than Ramadan, even then just the bare basics) so please let me know more. I'm curious.**

 **Anyway, on with the feels!**

* * *

They ended up missing dinner.

His friends kept hugging him once Magnus had stopped crying, eyes puffy and red and wet tear tracks staining his cheeks. They stayed there, in a tight bundle of limbs, as Magnus sniffed back his stuffed nose. Alex was saying again that she would beat up anyone who hurt him and Mallory with Halfborn were quick to agree with her. Sam simply held onto him and T.J kept saying bad jokes and random stuff in order to make him laugh.

They ended up eating dinner in an empty classroom since there was no one else in the Hall of the Slain. Magnus stayed there as T.J and Mallory went to get them food from the kitchens. Halfborn and Alex were talking about seemingly unimportant things- like who would win in the next Quidditch match or something stupid a kid they know did in one of their classes- but Magnus knew they were doing it to make him feel better.

He knew they wanted to know what had happened to make him break down like that, he could see it in the slightly awkward way they held themselves. And honestly, if he were in their place, he would want to know too. But they didn't ask him or push him to tell them. They acted like everything was normal, and, even thought Magnus knew that wasn't the case, it was nice to pretend for a bit.

Sam kept sitting close to him, occasionally rubbing his back until Mallory and T.J came back with their food. They ate in the empty classroom, sitting cross-legged on top of the desks. It was just good food and jokes between friends until they were almost finished and Magnus started talking.

"My mum died in a fire."

He told them everything, all that had happened during the summer. His mum, her death, and the weeks he spent in the streets. He didn't go into as much detail about the fire as he had with Sam. He couldn't go through that again.

They listened to him quietly. Magnus didn't know how they reacted, what emotions crossed their faces, because he refused to look up at them. He stared at the remnants of dinner on his plate, at his shoes and at the floor, but never at his friends. It was almost as if he was talking to himself, voicing all of the things he had avoided since that summer night. It was difficult and it hurt, but… it was cathartic.

He talked and talked until he had nothing more to say, until he was going off on tangents about things that happened to him in the streets and people he met. His mouth opened and closed and words came out, but Magnus didn't know what he was saying. He talked just for the sake of talking until his words didn't make sense even to his own ears.

But everything he said somehow reminded him of his mum. Of how all the random stories from the streets he told his friends would have never happened if it wasn't for that night.

Magnus had avoided talking, thinking, about his mum for months. He hoped that if he didn't it could disappear, like a kid hiding his dirty bed sheets so he could pretend he never wet the bed.

But now he did think about it and he did talk about it. And doing that, after so much time avoiding those memories, was too much. All the time he tried to hide from what had happened, all the tears he refused to let fall, were crashing down on him now and the tears started dripping down in the middle of Magnus' sentence.

"Oh, and there was that man I met sometime in July that always had a beer in hand and-and he went to visit his mother in the gr-graveyard and-and-" Magnus' eyes were blurring and before he knew the tears had overflown and run down his cheeks in big, fat drops. "And I-I don't even kn-know where my mum is buried. D-Did she even get a funeral? Wh-who was there? Was-was-"

His hands came up to wipe away his tears. His sleeves were stained with tears and snot and he was hiccupping too much to form any coherent words. His nose was clogging up again and his face felt hot. His whole body shook with every hiccup.

"Wh-what s-son d-doesn't visit his m-mum's g-grave?"

Then a hand was on his shoulder just as another hiccup rippled through his body. Magnus looked up with teary eyes to see Sam, now much closer to him. Her brows were scrunched together in worry and pain shone in her eyes as if she was feeling Magnus' heartbreak. Or, maybe, reliving her own.

"It's alright, Magnus," she said in a soothing, quiet voice.

Magnus hiccupped again. "N-no, it-it's not."

Sam reached out and wiped a tear from Magnus' eyes. "I know," she said softly. "And that's fine. It's okay to be hurt, it's alright to cry and feel horrible."

A sob racked through Magnus' body and he pulled his eyes from Sam. His heart hurt like someone was squeezing it in their fist, his stomach felt like it was a second away from emptying all its contents on the ground. His eyes were running, his nose was clogged up and he was crying too hard to breathe properly. He was a mess and, as Sam said, he felt horrible.

He wanted this to stop. He wanted to stop crying. Stop hurting.

"It took me months to get the courage to visit my mum's grave," Sam went on. "No one expects you to just move on from this. It's not something you just move on from. It's alright to cry. You have to. Keeping it in doesn't do you any good."

He wanted to go through his fourth year in Hogwarts without worrying about what he'd do once the year was over. Worrying about what he'd do now that his mum wasn't waiting for him at home.

"I know this saying this might not help, it didn't when I was going through this, but we're here for you. All of us."

"She's right," T.J said. "We're all here for you if you need a shoulder to cry on."

"Yeah, you can blow your nose in my shirt if you want to," Halfborn agreed.

"That would actually be an improvement," Mallory said. Magnus let out a pathetic little choked laugh.

Alex didn't say anything. She just held onto Magnus' hand, with a determined yet conflicted expression, like she wanted to help but didn't know how.

They stayed around him in a close-knit circle as Magnus cried and sobbed and wheezed, until his tears run out, until his body jerked from raspy hiccups and pitiful whines.

Magnus wanted his mum. Ungrateful as it might sound, he wanted her to hug him and tell him it was alright instead of his friends.

But he wasn't going to get that and he was starting to accept that.

Magnus felt odd the next few days. He acted normally, he talked to his friends normally and he went to his classes normally. But when previously he was carrying his mother's death around with him like a rock in his pocket, constantly conscious of it and weighing him down, now his friends were there to share some of the weight when it became too much.

It was still there, though. He could still feel the weight of it, sometimes lighter, sometimes heavier, but it was still there. But it didn't feel like a boulder anymore, it didn't threaten to take him down with it if he took one wrong step. Having that burden lighten after all this time felt odd, but… good. Really good.

Magnus was sitting at breakfast, munching on his cereal as his friends talked about their plans for the Christmas holidays. It had been a weird topic for his friends to talk about, especially now that they knew what had happened to his mother. Even as the holiday approached and everyone was high with excitement, they still wouldn't go anywhere near the topic.

Magnus appreciated that they didn't want to hurt him, he really did, but he didn't want them to treat him as if he were made of glass either. He kept bringing up the topic on his own and they soon understood he had no problem hearing about their family plans.

Sure, Magnus could say he was fine as much as he wanted now, but he knew it'd be a much different topic once the day finally came. He didn't know what he'd feel like then or how he'd react, but it wasn't worth depriving his friends of the holiday's excitement. He _wanted_ to hear them gush about what they were going to do over Christmas, he liked seeing them happy. It made him feel good. (It was moments like this he realised why he was sorted into Hufflepuff.)

"We're going to visit my grandparents in Ireland at Christmas!" Mallory said excitedly. Her accent always became stronger whenever she was emotional over something and the piece of toast she had spread marmalade on was forgotten on her plate. She made wide, energetic gestures with her hands that didn't really mean anything and the marmalade **covered** knife was still in her hand, dripping strawberry flavoured drops on the table. Magnus pitied the house elves that would have to clean that later.

"The whole family will be there too!" she went on. "I haven't seen them in forever! And aunt Aslin gave birth earlier this year so I'm going to meet my new cousin!"

Magnus had been to Mallory's house once for her birthday and her whole family was there too. Magnus wasn't sure how she kept track of all those aunts, uncles and cousins. Both her parents had lots of siblings and they were all family oriented, which meant there were dozens of Keens in the UK that sported Mallory's crazy hair and freckles. It was surprising how she was the only wizard among her brothers and sisters, though. Then again, magical genes were tricky.

"Are you going to get your cousins presents when we go to Hogsmeade again?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, but luckily for my wallet, the just want candy. Though I don't know where I'll fit so many chocolate frogs."

Magnus could picture dozens of chocolate frogs running amok in Mallory's house as the whole family tried to catch them. It was a hilariously crazy image and it made him smile into his spoon.

"I'm going to Norway to see my grandparents and we'll spend some time on the mountain too," Halfborn said. "My brother is coming back from university so we'll probably go skiing too."

"Be careful not to be eaten by a bear," T.J joked.

"Yeah, the poor thing would get food poisoning," Mallory agreed with a smirk.

"Oh, har har," Halfborn said and threw an apple at Mallory. The girl caught the fruit in her hands and threw it back. Magnus remembered something about throwing an apple at a girl being a marriage proposal in Ancient Greece but thought better not bring that up for fear of injury by fruit.

"Anyway, what are you doing at Christmas, T.J?" Magnus asked, partly because he wanted to stop Mallory and Halfborn's flirting and partly because he was curious.

"My grandparents and my uncle and aunt are coming to visit us for Christmas," he said happily. T.J's mother had moved to the UK when she was a student in university and had ended up staying even after she finished her studies. Law school was where she had met T.J's father, another lawyer-to-be. They got married after being in a relationship for some years, but unfortunately, he had been killed soon after T.J was born by a relative of a man he had put in jail.

"My uncle and aunt said they have a surprise for me, so I'm really excited to see what it is," T.J went on. "Are you doing something during Christmas, Alex?"

"Nah, not really," Alex said, her cheek propped on her palm as she played around with the food on her plate. "I'm just staying here."

Magnus perked up. "Wait, you're staying here too?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah. I heard Hogwarts is nice during Christmas."

Magnus nodded. "I haven't actually stayed here before during the holidays, but I've heard it's nice too," he said, ignoring the fact that there was obviously more to her staying than that. He was just happy he would have company.

"Are you doing something during the holidays, Sam?" Alex asked. "I mean, it's two weeks of no school, you must be looking forward to something."

A shit-eating grin spread across Magnus' face. "Yeah, Sam, are you looking forward to seeing _someone?"_

Sam's cheeks reddened and she looked down at her plate. The others slowly realised what Magnus was talking about and smiled mischievously.

"Yes, is there someone you want to see?" Mallory asked, propping her head on her hand to look at Sam over the table and wiggle her eyebrows.

Sam refused to look up at them.

"Anyone at all?" Halfborn went on.

Sam blushed harder.

Alex looked at Sam, flustered and refusing to meet anyone's eye, and then at her friends, grinning like Cheshire Cat. "Okay, is there something I'm missing here? Who are you talking about?"

"Welllll," Mallory almost sang.

"That would be," T.J continued in the same sing-song voice.

"Amir!" Magnus finished. Just as they expected, Sam's blush reached new heights the moment his name was uttered.

"Who's that?" Alex asked, still confused. What was going on?

"Sam's _betrothed,_ " Halfborn said. He said 'betrothed' the same way a kid in elementary school would say 'you _like_ her' right before he started singing kissing on a tree.

Alex looked at Sam, who had buried her red face in her hands, with wide eyes. "You're betrothed?"

Sam nodded. "Yes."

"And _in love,_ " Mallory added, matching Halfborn's teasing tone. "Our little Sam here has been in love with Amir since she was twelve."

Alex was still looking at Sam with surprise. Magnus didn't know what was funnier, Sam being flustered or Alex being completely dumbfounded.

"Excuse me?" Alex finally said. "My sister is engaged and I never heard about it before now?"

Magnus would have laughed at Alex's over the top reaction if it wasn't for one little word she said.

"Sister?" They all asked together, in perfect unison, like they were in some bad sit-com.

Alex finally seemed to realise what she had said. "Oops. That slipped."

"What do you mean 'sister'?" Halfborn asked.

Alex scratched her head awkwardly. "Um, well, you see…"

Sam sighed. "This is why I said we should wait until the right moment to tell them."

"It slipped, okay?" Alex said. "What did you expect? I was surprised! How come you never told be you're engaged?"

"Betrothed," Sam corrected. "And I didn't tell you because I was sure you'd tease me. I was putting it off for as long as possible."

"Okay, you're not wrong there, I will tease you," Alex admitted. "But still! Why didn't I learn about my future brother in law?"

"Okay, wait a minute," T.J interrupted. "Can we go back to the whole thing about you two being sisters?"

"Yeah, what happened?" Mallory asked. "When did you find out?"

"Remember that letter Loki sent?" Sam said. She always referred to her father by his name. She refused to acknowledge their relation. "It was addressed to his daughters. Plural. He's mentioned having other children so I talked to Alex, since she's also a metamorphmagus."

"Turns out Loki is the shitty father of both of us," Alex continued. "Although he's technically my mother."

"Say what now?" Halfborn asked. Magnus would have laughed at his confused expression if he wasn't in a similar state himself.

"Our father is metamorphmagus like us and he can change his whole body to look like a woman," Sam explained matter-of-factly, like she was answering a question in class.

"When he had me, he, or rather she, was a woman," Alex completed.

"So a metamorphmagus can still reproduce even when they have changed to a different sex?" T.J asked. Magnus could see his Ravenclaw brain's cogs turn around and spin as he tried to make sense of the new information.

Alex shrugged. "Apparently."

It was then that the bell rang and the table 19 gang got up to go to their respective lessons. Magnus was just about to exit the Hall of the Slain when Sam walked by him and slipped a note in his hand. Before Magnus could ask her what that was about, she had disappeared among the crowd of students.

Magnus was standing in front of Professor Blitzen's office, one hand raised and ready to knock on the door. His fist floated just a millimetre away from the wood in hesitation. Magnus thought about it again. He could always come back and talk to Professor Blitzen tomorrow, he might be busy right now.

But no, he had already put this off long enough. Today was the day all students that wouldn't spend Christmas at Hogwarts went home and the castle was uncharacteristically quiet. Magnus got Sam's note about talking to Professor Blitzen almost two weeks ago and he had been procrastinating ever since then.

When Sam slipped the note into his palm, Magnus had looked at it curiously as soon as he had sat down. On it, in Sam's neat handwriting were the words _"If you need a place to stay, you can go to Professor Blitzen. He can help you."_

Magnus hadn't gotten the chance to ask Sam what that had been about privately for a few days. Even when he did, she hadn't been much help, just said that he could help him find a stable place to stay in summer.

With a deep breath, he knocked on the door. He had put this off long enough. Time to get it over with.

Once Magnus heard the muffled "Come in" from behind the door, he opened it and walked in. Professor Blitzen was sitting crouched over a book – a sketchbook, Magnus noticed as he walked closer- with a pencil in hand. Professor's offices in Hogwarts were fairly spacious, but with all the mannequins and cloth spread around in the room, it felt cluttered. Not in a bad way, weirdly. In a warm, used and familiar way, the same way you're familiar with the clutter of your messy bedroom.

"What can I help you with?" Professor Blitzen asked. A large insignia of Hufflepuff was pinned to his tie, the symbol of his status as the Hufflepuff Head of House. How he made a gold, yellow and black pin look fashionable, Magnus didn't know.

"Um, Sam said you could help me with, uh… something," Magnus mumbled as he sat awkwardly on one of the chairs in front of the Professor's desk.

"Sure. I'll be glad to help if I can," the teacher said as he put aside the design he had been working on. "What's troubling you?"

"It's, umm…" Magnus trailed off. The floor sure seemed interesting today. It had a nice grey color. "Sam said you could help me find a place to stay in summer when I won't be able to stay at Hogwarts."

Professor Blitzen's face fell when Magnus talked, as if he realised exactly what this was about. Which he did.

"I see," he said calmly. "Did Samirah explain to you how I can help?"

Magnus shook his head. "Not really. She just said you could help."

The professor nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I assume you don't know this, but Professor Hearthstone and I run a small organisation that aims to provide shelter for Hogwarts students who can't go back home during the summer for one reason or the other."

"How come I had never heard of that?" Magnus asked confused.

"It's still pretty new. Hearthstone and I are still trying to get word around so students who need our help will hear about it."

Magnus' lips formed a small 'oh' as he nodded. "So… can you help me?"

He felt a bit awkward asking like this. Yes, for all intents and purposes, their Head of House were meant to be their mother or father for as long as they were at Hogwarts. Magnus may have gone to Professor Blitzen for help multiple times, but still… asking him for a place to stay like this felt awkward. Especially since simply asking told Professor Blitzen that something was wrong with his home. (Could there be something wrong with his home if he didn't have one anymore?)

"Of course," the short teacher said and handed Magnus a piece of paper and an envelope from a drawer. "Please fill in your information on the paper. We need to keep the Ministry informed about children under our care."

Magnus looked down at the paper. It was pretty standard stuff; name, age, gender (there were more than two options, Magnus noted). But among all of that was also the question of why he couldn't stay at his home.

 _Because I don't have one anymore,_ Magnus thought instinctively, even though he had been trying not to have negative thoughts like that lately. _Because my dad has been dead for years and now my mum is dead too._

His gloomy thoughts must have reflected on his face, because Professor Blitzen spoke. "The paper is mostly formalities. The people at the Ministry are thankfully very understanding, so it's okay if you're very general about it. And you don't have to tell me or Hearthstone unless you feel comfortable. Alright?"

Magnus nodded. "Okay," he said quietly.

With most of the students at their homes, the castle was quiet. Almost eerily so, in fact. Magnus had just been so used to having hundreds of kids milling around Hogwarts hall that seeing the place suddenly so empty felt wrong, like something straight out of a horror movie.

Still, horror movies generally came with a great thrill to them and having the whole castle to themselves, able to explore every nook and cranny to their heart's content, was amazing. It was exciting and mystical and, well, magical. Magnus and Alex spent most of Christmas break walking aimlessly around the castle's corridors and exploring rooms and passages they had no idea existed before.

Like, they had a music room! Why did they have a music room? They didn't even learn music at Hogwarts!

Alex was great company during the holidays and they had lots of fun together. It had been weird at first, since they had grown used to hanging around with all of their friends during the year, but spending Christmas holidays together reminded Magnus of how well they had hit it off in the Hogwarts Express.

They were currently outside, near the great lake, bundled up in so many layers it was a wonder they could move. Alex had burst into Magnus' room that morning (teachers were much more relaxed about students staying in their own dorms now) and had demanded Magnus wake up because it was snowing outside. Any protest Magnus might have had about being woken up so suddenly were completely forgotten as he jumped out of bed and got dressed as fast as the Flash so they could go outside.

It was amazing. Yes, Magnus had seen white Hogwarts before, but there was something about seeing all that fluffy snow covering the castle grounds, without any students around, that was simply extraordinary. It was so beautiful and peaceful and-

"Catch me if you can!"

And Magnus just got hit by a snowball.

"Oh, I'll get you for that!" he yelled after Alex as he gathered up some snow.

"You'll have to catch me first!"

Magnus ran after the green haired boy -Alex was a boy today- as he made a snowball in his hands. Magnus had taken part in a lot of snowball fights and if Alex thought he was going to beat him that easily he had another thing coming.

…or maybe not.

Turns out Alex is a sneaky little shit (Slytherin. Go figure) and beating him at a snowball fight was more difficult than it seemed. He was fast and agile, even in the deep snow, and his nimble fingers made balls really fast. Magnus had soon found himself with snow in his hair and face and fingers numb from the cold.

That's not to say he hadn't gotten in a few, a lot, actually, good hits. At one point he had managed to sneak up on Alex and shove a lump of snow down Alex's shirt. It might have gotten him a snowball in the face, but it was worth it. He had also managed to hit Alex right on the head, which had left the other boy disoriented long enough to get in another few hits.

Then came the realisation that they were wizards and could use magic. Soon, dozens of snowballs were suspended in the air with Wingardium Leviosa and they were staring each other down, like they were going to have an epic movie-finale battle.

"You can still back down, you know," Alex said with a cocky smirk. He was holding a snowball in hand, even though he already held several others in the air with magic. Magnus guessed he did it to look cool.

"Yeah, you wish," Magnus said equally as cocky. "Bring it on."

"You asked for it."

Snowballs started **flying**. It was chaotic, adrenaline inducing, exciting. It was way too over the top, but they were both smiling wide, cheeks red by the cold.

In the end, after a great battle, Magnus and Alex lay breathless on the snow. Their clothes were soaked through and they knew they should probably go inside now, but they were too tired.

"That," Magnus panted, "was awesome."

"Yeah. I've never seen someone who can keep up with Durmstrang's snowball fighting techniques."

"What can I say, I'm a natural."

Beside him, Alex giggled and sighed content. "This is nice," he said and something about his voice sounded so happy and at peace that it made Magnus smile just hearing it.

And it was nice. The weather, the sky. It was nice. It was simple but… it made him happy.

"Yeah. It is."

There was a moment of silence before Alex spoke again. "I heard you talked to Professor Blitzen about staying somewhere this summer."

Magnus could only nod at that. "Yeah."

"I know that the circumstances that led to you having to stay there aren't the best, and it might be a bit selfish of me to say, but I'm glad we'll be able to spend the summer together."

Magnus turned his head to look at Alex. "You'll stay there too?" he asked, even though he had no idea where 'there' was. He knew that Professor Blitzen and Hearthstone would provide him with shelter, like they did with a lot of other kids, but he didn't know how.

"Yeah. I can't exactly go back to my house," he said nonchalantly. "I don't want to either, though." He stood up and offered a hand to Magnus. He took it. "I'm having much more fun now than I ever had before."

Magnus wondered about that. About why Alex didn't like talking about his family and why he couldn't go back home. Why he always talked about the time before Hogwarts like it was so bad.

But Alex didn't give him the chance to think about it any longer.

"Now, come on," he said. "We better go back inside or we'll get sick. And I'm _not_ being stuck at Hogwarts with your sick arse."

* * *

 **And with that we conclude our first (well, fourth) year at Hogwarts! Starting next chapter, Magnus and the gang are fifth years!**

 **See ya next school year!**


	6. Bad Jokes Show-Off

**This chapter would have been uploaded on Sunday, buuut it's April seventh today, my birthday, so I thought I'd celebrate! Anywho, please enjoy the gang's first chapter in sixth year!**

* * *

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

He was late for the Hogwarts Express again. _Again._

Sure, last year he had been late too, but last summer had been especially difficult. He had been living in the streets, so even simply _getting_ to King's Cross had been hard. He had started walking to the train station days in advance in order to make sure he wouldn't miss the train and yet still somehow manage to almost miss it.

But this year had been different. This year he hadn't been sleeping under bridges and on benches. Professor Blitzen and Hearthstone run a care home for Hogwarts students who couldn't go home for the summer called "Perthro" and they had taken Magnus and Alex in.

In fact, that had been one of the best parts of summer. Sure, Magnus might have spent a few days in summer with his friends here and then, but he had never spent an entire summer with one of them. Alex had been great company and they had found out a lot of things they had in common. They both liked hiking and camping, they both liked the outdoors and spending time there. Alex didn't know a lot about pop culture, being a pureblood, but Magnus had shown her famous movies and books and they had bonded over their shared love for fantastical worlds (which was kind of weird considering they were wizards, but meh).

That is not to say this summer didn't have its bad parts. Magnus had been struggling- and still was struggling- with his mother's death and the pain his memories of her brought him. He didn't think he'd ever be over it, not a hundred percent, but he had come to terms with the fact he didn't need to. And maybe didn't want to. Those memories were painful, yes, but… they were still his memories of his mother. They were a part of him and they were too precious to forget, even if they hurt him.

The worst instance of that had been on the anniversary of the day of the fire. He had been having a perfectly fine summer up until the point he realised that it was a year ago, at about this time of year, that his mother died. And from the moment he had thought of that, he couldn't get it out of his head. When the actual day came, Magnus was, in hindsight, a total jerk to other people. He had been way too snappy at Alex and all the other kids in Perthro, even when they treated him nicely. He didn't tell anyone what was wrong, rationalising that he'd be back to normal once the day was over, so there was no reason to trouble anyone else.

But Alex knew how much of a stupid bottler he was and didn't take any of his rude behaviour to heart. When Magnus locked himself in the cleaning cabinet to cry, Alex had been there to lend him her shoulder even if Magnus had tried to push her away.

"Oh, please, I'm not going anywhere," Alex had said after Magnus had told her to leave. "You're a mess and I'm not leaving you like this alone."

And yet somehow, as awesome a friend as Alex was, she had forgotten to do one simple thing.

"I told you to keep track of time!" Magnus dinner Alex as they run down the station towards platform 9¾.

"I did!" Alex protested. "I just… didn't after a point."

Blitzen and Hearthstone – the two teachers insisted kids at Perthro didn't need to call the 'Professor' during the summer – had brought everyone at King's Cross that morning. You'd think that when they were at the train station earlier than almost anyone else they couldn't possibly miss the train.

But they had gotten so bored during the first few minutes of just waiting at the platform that they decided to put their luggage on the train and go look around. Alex had been the one wearing a watch so Magnus ad asked her to look at the time so they would go back to Platform 9¾ on time. Sure, they could have done a spell to see the time, but technically, they weren't allowed to do magic yet.

They were having so much fun just wandering around and making comments about the people and things they saw that they had both forgotten the time and by the time Magnus had asked Alex what time it was, they were already late. They rushed of the small café they had walked into and started running for their train.

Thankfully, they didn't have to drag their trunks behind them, which made running as fast as you can a lot easier. Still, Alex was holding onto a ham sandwich she bought at the café because she had slept in and didn't manage to get any breakfast that morning and she looked ridiculous trying to weave through the crowds of people while also holding onto it and occasionally eating it. There were times when she even held it in her mouth, like one of those ridiculous anime girls that run to school with a piece of bread in their mouth while being all like "I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" The only thing that was missing was running head first into your love interest.

"Ow!"

Magnus spoke too soon.

Alex had run straight into someone. That someone was a boy their age with brown hair and so many freckles and moles on their skin Magnus was pretty sure you could find constellations on his skin.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!" The boy was quick to apologise, rushing to his feet and offering Alex a hand to get up. Alex took it and got to her feet, looking sadly at her sandwich that was lying dead on the ground.

"No, it's okay, I'm fine," Alex reassured him and dusted off her pants.

"Hey, um, are you Alex Fierro?" The boy asked. Alex looked at him surprised, not expecting to have been recognised by someone she thought had been just a random Muggle.

"Yeah. Do you go to Hogwarts too?"

"Yeah, and I'm running late. I'm Conall Nithercott, by the way. Nice to meet you."

Alex shook the hand the boy- Conall- was offering her.

"Uh, guys?" Magnus interrupted. "I think we should be going. The train might be about to leave."

"Oh, yeah! Sorry!" Conall said, picking up his trunk from the ground. He started running along with Magnus and Alex to Platform 9¾.

The atmosphere at the Platform was just like any other first day of school; crowded, loud and buzzing with energy. There were people everywhere and, luckily, Magnus could still spot some kids with their trunks so they weren't too late. Still, that didn't mean they didn't run to the train like their life depended on it and basically jumped on it.

They took a moment to get their breathing back to normal once they were on the train. They might not have run a big distance, but they had run fast and that, coupled with constantly having to dodge people, had tired them.

"Say, what house are you in?" Alex asked Conall once she caught her breath.

"Ravenclaw," the boy answered. "You're Slytherin, right?"

Alex smirked. "The green hair gave it away?"

"Kind of," Conall giggled- yes, _giggled._

Alex smiled before waving him off. "Well, we got to go find our friends. See you later!"

Conall waved them goodbye and after a second turned around to go look for his own friends. Magnus and Alex soon found their friends all sitting together in a compartment, talking amongst themselves.

"There you are!" Mallory said when they opened the door and walked in. "We thought you'd lose the train."

"Sorry, sorry, we lost track of time," Alex apologised.

"Well, Alex did," Magnus added with a smirk. Alex elbowed him in the ribs.

"Did anything happen while you were coming here?" T.J asked as Magnus and Alex sat down in the two empty seats their friends had saved for them.

"Not much."Alex shrugged. "We did run into some boy called Conall Nithercott and…"

* * *

A few weeks passed and the table 19 group was well into their fifth year, sixth in Halfborn's case. All of the, with the exception of Halfborn again, were struggling to get used to the increased homework since this was their O.W.L year. Halfborn was simply having a good time laughing at their misery.

"Payback time!" He'd say triumphantly whenever he saw them die over their homework. Magnus was seriously regretting teasing him about how long he studied.

They were sitting at their beloved table 19 during breakfast when Alex saw that boy from the platform again. "Oh, hey!" She called out to him. "Good morning!"

They boy stopped in his tracks suddenly and looked at Alex, momentarily surprised before he wove back at her. "Good morning!"

"Is that the boy from the station?" Mallory asked in between mouthfuls of marmalade toast.

"Mm, yeah."

"He reminds me of someone, but I can't remember who," Halfborn muttered. He stared at the boy for a moment before going back to slaughtering his bacon and sausages.

"You can't remember what you ate for lunch yesterday," Mallory teased him.

"I can. We had spaghetti yesterday."

"Bad example," grumbled Mallory. "The only thing you remember is food."

"And how to annoy you," Halfborn added.

The playful back and forth went on for a bit longer, but Magnus didn't pay much attention to what was piling. Lately, Halfborn and Mallory's arguing (read: flirting) had been much more intense. Apparently, Alex agreed, because she leaned out of Mallory's field of vision to make a fake a gag at Magnus. Magnus nodded and repeated the action, only even more overdramatic.

God, those two needed to get together.

"O, anything new?" T.J asked as he spun his fork in his fingers. Magnus would be worried about it being dangerous if he hadn't seen T.J do the same thing every year at breakfast since first year. The kid was a natural at spinning objects between his fingers.

As for 'anything new?', that was T.J's lame excuse of a conversation started for whenever their conversation came to a dead end. It was always met with the same response:

"What new? We basically live together, we don't have something new to talk about you don't already know," Mallory said. It was true that they didn't have anything new to say, especially at the start of the day, but T.J's stupid question had succeeded in getting the two love birds to stop flirting.

"Oh, um," Sam said suddenly, making everyone at their table to turn and look at her. Whatever sudden thought she wanted to share with them had come to her, it seemed to embarrass her because she looked down at her plate and fiddled with her hijab.

"Yeah, what is it?" Magnus said, very interested all of a sudden. There was only one thing- or one person- that could make Sam this flustered.

"Yeah, sis, what is it?" Alex asked, wearing a shit-eating grin that matched Magnus'.

"Do tell," Mallory added. Halfborn wiggled his eyebrows for extra effect.

"Well, um," she trailed off. "Amir…."

"What was that, we didn't hear you well?" T.J said.

"Amir and his family are coming over for dinner," she said quickly and then immediately used her hijab to cover her blushing face.

As if on cue, the whole table broke into a unanimous 'awwww'.

"Really?" Mallory asked excitedly. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing much, really," Sam mumbled. "They had invited us over to dinner during the summer so we invited them back to be polite. And they're good people, so it's nice to spend time with them."

"So when is the dinner?" Alex asked. "Will you have to leave school to go? Do I get to meet my future brother in law?"

"It's this weekend, yes I will, I talked things over with Professor Sif and no, I don't think you'll get to meet him," Sam answered.

"Tch, too bad. Can I at least get a photo? I need to know who will be marrying my baby sister."

"I'm older than you!" Sam protested.

"By, like, a month," Alex said. "Besides, you're way too nice and pure. That makes you the younger one."

"How-?" Sam started saying, confused by Alex's reasoning but gave up midway. "You know what, forget it."

"Aww, come on, I'm just teasing you!" Alex draped an arm over Sam's shoulders and playfully rubbed her cheek on her sister's shoulder.

"We want all the details when you get back, by the way," Mallory added with a wink, for no other reason than to embarrass Sam. It worked.

* * *

Slytherin and Ravenclaw had Potions together this year, so Mallory, Sam, Alex and T.J were walking to class together. Or they would be if T.J hadn't caught the flu and was stuck in the infirmary with Nurse Eir talking to him about her cats. As it were, the three girls had gone to class on their own.

Their only problem was that, normally, Sam and Mallory worked together and Alex worked with T.J. Without the boy there, Alex was left without a partner to work with.

"Now, children," the Professor said, "find a partner and get your ingredients ready as I write the instructions on the board."

Alex dropped her head on her hand and promptly sighed as Mallory and Sam moved to get their ingredients. "Ugh, great. Who am I going to work with now?" she grumbled under her breath.

"Um, excuse me?" someone said. Alex looked up to Conall standing next to her desk awkwardly.

"Ah, hi," he waved nervously. "Do you have a partner?"

"No, he's sick today."

"Do you mind if we work together, then?" he asked. Alex gave him a good look up and down before mentally shrugging.

"Sure, sit down."

The lesson went by fairly uneventfully. Conall was a good potions partner; he followed the instructions on the board and he didn't blow up anything in their faces. They found a rhythm together after a bit and they worked together well. They even joked around under their breaths together so the teacher wouldn't scold them.

"How come you're not working with any of your friends?" Alex asked as she was stirring around the contents of their pot, whatever that was. It had a weird, muddy brown colour and it smelled like a mix between mowed grass and meatloaf.

"We had a bit of an argument with my dose potions partner," Conall said. He didn't look up from the ingredient he was chopping. "He said he didn't want to work together anymore so I came to ask you since you were sitting on your own."

"What did you argue about?" Alex asked, before realising that maybe he didn't want to tell her.

Conall kept cutting up their what-were-they-called roots. "It's nothing important."

Alex simply nodded and went back to work.

It was when they had to stir their potion that things became boring. They alternated between motions, Alex doing the clockwise stirs and Conall doing the counter-clockwise stirs. The monotonous motion became boring and Alex could feel herself falling asleep in her chair. That was when Conall suddenly talked.

"What's green and then red?" he asked.

"What?" Alex asked, going along with the joke.

"A frog in a blender."

There was a moment of silence as Alex took it in and contemplated if Conall was kidding her or if the actual joke was that bad. When Conall did nothing to show that, yes, he had been joking, here is the real punch line, Alex snorted and smiled.

"Why do vampires believe everything you tell them?" Alex asked.

"Why?"

"Because they're real suckers."

Conall chuckled quietly and took the spoon from Alex in order to do his own stirs.

"What did one snowman say to the other?" he asked.

"What?"

"It smells like carrots out here."

Alex snorted again and smirked. If this boy wanted a bad jokes show off, he was in for a wild ride. She had a reputation to uphold, after all.

"What do you call a cow with no legs? Ground beef."

"What did one bean ask the other bean? How you bean?"

"What's the best thing about Switzerland? I don't know, but their flag is a huge plus."

"How do crazy people go through their forest? They take the psycho-path."

"Why should you not write with a dull pencil? Because it's pointless."

"What's brown and sounds like a bell? DUUUUUNG."

"Why do ghosts love elevators? Because they lift their spirits."

"What is invisible and smells like carrots? Rabbit farts."

"What do you call someone with no body and only a nose? Nobody knows."

"What did one hand say to the other? You stay here, I'll go on a head!"

"What did-"

"Miss Fierro, Mister Nithercott, I would appreciate it if you stopped joking," the professor cut them off. Alex and Conall shut their mouths as the rest of the class snickered at them being scolded.

They finished their potion soon and, while it didn't look or smell exactly like it was supposed to, it wasn't that bad. Some other students mixed in the wrong dose of ingredients and their potion exploded, so at least Alex hadn't taken a shown in a potion that smelled like grass and meatloaf. Snicker at that, jerks.

"Do you accept I'm the undefeated champion at bad jokes?" Alex asked as they walked out of class.

"Yeah, yeah, you're the best," Conall chuckled. "Teach me your ways, oh great one."

Alex giggled. "I will consider that, young warrior."

"I appreciate that, master," Conall said with a bow and a straight face that really didn't match with the ridiculous things he was saying. "I would be honoured to become your apprentice."

"As you should be," Alex said, giving her voice the most posh and snobbish tone she could manage. She held her elegant pose, he hands held together behind her back and her chin high, for a few moment before she broke character and started laughing. Conall joined her.

"So, are we friends?" Conall asked when he finally stopped laughing. His eyes were shining with the tears he had almost shed while doubled over and his cheeks were slightly red from laughing.

"Of course," Alex said cheerily. "Anyone who can put up with my bad jokes is my friend."

* * *

"…so I threw the ball at Morrison, because, you know, I expected him to catch it, but-"

Malloy's story of how she had thrown another Slytherin player off his broom at yesterday's practice was cut short when Sam came and sat down at their table. The young girl had left school that weekend for her family's dinner with Amir's family and her friends knew she would come back sometime today. What they didn't expect was that she would come back with a black cloud hanging over her head. (Not literary, of course, but you get that.)

Sam didn't say anything, didn't greet them and didn't even look at them. She simply started piling food on her plate and eating it, pretty much stabbing the food with her fork. The rest of the group gave each other cautious looks, silently asking who would be the brave one to ask Sam what was wrong.

Sam…wasn't the best person to be around when she was in a bad mood.

Halfborn shook his head viciously and made a big 'X' with his hands. _Nah-ah, I'm not doing it._ Mallory wasn't much better off, shaking her head and crossing her arms firmly; she wasn't going to do it either. T.J quickly pretended to abruptly fall asleep on the table, even throwing some fake snores in there too for extra effect, despite it being clear that he was faking it. Magnus raised his hands in the air, like a bandit surrendering to the town's serif, and shook his head with a scared expression. He was the one to get the snake out of the hole the last time Sam was in a bad mood and he was in no way doing it again so soon, especially with no medical insurance.

Alex, seeing all her friends' antics, groaned in exasperation. "Ugh, fine," she mouthed at them.

"Sooo, Sam," she started, terribly awkward too. "How did the dinner go?"

"Fine!" Sam said curtly, picking up (read: stabbing) another piece of fruit from her plate. Magnus could swear he heard a cracking noise.

No one dared to speak. They exchanged questioning looks but no one was prepared to endanger their physical well being and say something.

"Um, you don't seem fine?" Alex said hesitantly, so much so it came out as a question.

Sam groaned. "Ugh! It was going fine. The dinner was fine, but then I was washing the dishes in the kitchen and Amir offered to help me because they were so many and- ugh!"

Sam groaned again and let her head fall in her hands. "We were talking while cleaning and we were just joking around but then he started asking me about school. I can't tell him I'm going to a Wizarding school, so I changed the subject, but…"

Sam sighed again, a sigh so loud the whole Hall of the Slain must have heard it. "He thinks I'm hiding something from him because I always changed the subject at dinner too whenever school came up."

"Where have you told him you're going to school?" T.J asked.

"Just some boarding school I got a scholarship for. But he thinks it's weird how he's never heard about anything that happens at school or about my friends. We've always been close, since we were children, and we've always told each other everything. He's worried that I don't talk to him about Hogwarts."

Magnus wasn't sure this was a good idea, but he spoke anyway. "Why don't you tell him then?"

"What am I supposed to say?" Sam snapped. "That on top of abandoning us, my father was also a wizard? That I go to a magic school with ghosts and that I have a wand and study how to make magic potions? He won't believe me! He'll think I'm crazy!"

Alex, T.J, Mallory and Magnus sent each other worried looks. Alex reached out tentatively and laid her hand on Sam's arm. The other girl had pushed her plate aside and was lying face first on the table.

"Still… you'll have to explain things to him somehow. You can't just ignore this."

"I know," Sam said. She sounded defeated, like she was thinking about an assignment she had due and dreaded doing. "But I don't know _what_ to tell him. How am I going to do this?"

It felt… odd to see Sam so lost. Normally she was the mother of their group; if you were in trouble and didn't know what to do, Sam was the one you went to for help. Now she was the one who needed it and Magnus felt like the universe had gaping upside down.

"You could-" Mallory started saying before Sam cut her off.

"I'll – I'll figure it out somehow, but… can we please change the subject for now? I was away for two days, did I miss something?"

Halfborn started telling Sam about what had happened that weekend. They all wanted to help Sam solve thing between her and Amir (they all shipped it) but Sam didn't want to talk about it anymore and they couldn't force her to.

It was after the bell rang and they split up to go to their respective classes that Alex pulled Mallory and Sam to the side. If they weren't going to talk about Sam's love problems, they could still talk about Mallory's. Alex has been meaning to talk to Mallory about this for long and now that Sam is back, the time is ideal. It will probably help her sister to forget her own problems too.

"Spill, girl," Alex said when they were standing at a side of the hall as the other students walked by.

Mallory looked utterly confused. "Spill what?"

"Oh, come on! You were staring at Halfborn when the Gryffindors were training like you had never seen a man on a broom!"

It would never cease to amaze Alex how fast Mallory could turn as red as her hair. "I-I wasn't!"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England."

Mallory was quick to bow. "Your Majesty," she said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Alex rolled her eyes once more and sighed in exasperation. She was about to talk but Sam spoke first.

"Now, why haven't I been informed about our little Mallory flirting with Halfborn?"

"Well, you just came back. I didn't have time," Alex said as Mallory said "I wasn't flirting!" with a blushing face.

"Okay, technically, she was just gaping at him like a fish, but it was close enough," Alex corrected herself once she heard what Mallory had said.

"I wasn't- ugh!" the redhead groaned.

"You were checking him out," Alex said matter of factly.

"No, I wasn't!"

"So you weren't staring at him?"

"Yes!"

"You're sure you weren't flirting with him?"

"Yes!

"So you do have a crush on him?"

"Yes!"

There was a moment of silence as what Mallory said sank in. The definition of a shit-eating grin spread across Alex's face and her sister was quick to follow. Mallory's cheeks went redder and redder as she realised what she had just admitted.

"I-I didn't mean that!" She said frantically. She was staring at the floor instead of at her two roommates, who were looking at her like children who had caught their sibling doing something bad and were about to blackmail them with it.

"Too late now!" Alex said triumphantly. "You can't take back what you said!"

"I wasn't thinking about it!" Mallory protested.

"Exactly," Sam said calmly, even though she was wearing the same mischievous grin as her sister. Seemed like Alex's plan had worked on getting her to forget about Amir. "You weren't thinking about what you were saying so you didn't think of lying."

"Yeah, it's pretty obvious you like him," Alex added. "And you might as well admit it already because I don't think you want me to start singing 'I won't say I'm in love' with Magnus and T.J."

"You wouldn't do that," Mallory said. The image itself was silly enough to bring a smile to her lips despite how embarrassing it would actually be. That smile was quick to fall away when Alex didn't laugh and say she was simply joking, instead looking at Mallory with deadly seriousness. Mallory paled in fear.

"You would?"

Alex shrugged. "We've been practising for some time now."

Mallory runs a hand over her face in exasperation. "I swear to any god out there, I'm going to embarrass you so much whenever you get a crush."

"So you admit to having a crush on Halfborn?" Alex grinned.

"N-no! God, you're unbelievable!" Mallory turned on her heel and walked away, marching to class without once turning around to look at her friends. Alex would later say that she had been blushing, but she wasn't. Of course she wasn't.

Sam and Alex stayed at the side of the hall for a moment, watching their friend go.

"We're not going to leave it at that, are we?" Sam asked after a second of silence.

"Oh, ofcourse we're not," Alex said, a devilish smirk spreading across her face. "Time to put my matchmaking talents to work."

* * *

 **Look, I know most people are wary of OCs in fanfiction, but trust me, I know what I'm doing (I hope I do)**


	7. Shiny Penises Glittering in the Sky

**Despite what the title of this chapter would suggest, no, I'm not on crack, trust me guys. (Actually, don't trust me, that would be a mistake on your part) (but jokes aside, I'm not doing drugs) (unless books count) (in which case someone better drag my ass to rehab)**

 **Anyway, with no further ado, here's the new chapter!**

* * *

Things were… calm at breakfast.

It had seemed a bit weird to Magnus how Sam had talked to them about her problem with Amir and went on to act completely normal the next day. Then again, Magnus himself was a master at the "ignore it and it will go away" technique, so he couldn't say anything. He wondered if this is what his friends had felt like last year, wanting desperately to help a friend but that friend not letting them to. He wanted talk more to Sam about Amir and fix things between them, but he knew he shouldn't interfere.

Still, he wasn't expecting things to be _this_ calm. It wasn't just that Sam acted as if her fight with Amir had never happened –although Magnus has known the girl long enough to know that she was probably killing herself over it, even if she didn't show it.

It's just – nothing was happening! Alex didn't pick fights with Halfborn like she normally did, she didn't give them lengthy reports of stupid things her classmates and/or teachers did and she wasn't planning a prank on anyone. She was just quiet and calm and honestly? It was unnerving. Magnus knew he should probably be glad she was calm but he couldn't- it was like the calm before the storm. He just _knew_ something bad was going to happen.

And, call him a masochist, he wanted to see what it was.

His fear about the well being of the school after Alex had a go at it aside, things were pretty normal. Alex was currently telling a joke Conall had told her – the two of them had formed a friendship over their shared love for bad jokes.

"So there're two muffins and they're sitting in an oven. The first muffin turns to the second and says 'Wow, it sure is hot in here'. The other muffin says 'AHH! A talking muffin!'"

The joke was bad. It was _so_ bad – which was kind of the point – that Magnus and his friends couldn't help laughing.

Or most of them, that is. Halfborn was laughing along with them too, until he stopped to take a breath and saw Mallory. Her eyes were shut tight as her whole body shook with laughter. Her face was flushed and the roundness of her cheeks showed even more now that her smile was pushing them out of the way. The hand she had brought up when she started laughing – a habit she had kept from the time she wore braces – was now hovering near her face and as her laughing calmed down, she used it to push a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Halfborn had stopped laughing when he saw her, unconsciously taking in her smiling face. His grandmother – like grandmother were wont to do- always said that his face light up whenever he smiled. He didn't know how true that was for him, but it was definitely true for Mallory. It was times like this, when he forgot his stupid crush on the girl, that she did something like this and made him feel like the main character of a crappy romance novel. _Ugh, feelings suck._

The Gryffindor only realized he had been staring when Mallory caught him looking from the corner of her eye and gave him a questioning look. Halfborn was quick to look away, stabbing a piece of egg from his plate and shoving it in his mouth for fear he would say something stupid.

Mallory didn't question Halfborn's starring because, one, she didn't realize he had been looking at her for more than just a few seconds, and two, Alex was telling them another joke.

That's not to say the others didn't notice. Because _boy,_ they noticed. A mischievous glint shone in Alex's eyes and she sent a knowing look to her sister. Across the table, Magnus and T.J were doing the same thing, although mush more exasperated about how hopelessly in love their friend was.

T.J took a napkin and pretended to wipe his mouth. As subtly as he could, he slipped it under the table and used the pen in his to write something on it. He passed it to Magnus' lap and the blond boy looked down to see that it read _We need to help the big oaf._

Looking at his friend from the corner of his eye, Magnus nodded slightly. Halfborn needed all the help he could get.

When the bell rang, Magnus quickly moved to T.J's side. Luckily, they had Herbology together as their first lesson of the day and they started plotting how to get Halfborn and Mallory together.

"Shouldn't we tell the girls?" Magnus asked. He and T.J were wearing protective goggles and gloves as they dealt with quite a nasty plant. Herbology was interesting, sure, but sometimes Magnus just wondered how plants like these came to existence.

"No!" T.J answered immediately. "They _live_ with Mallory, what if they let something slip? Or if they think we should tell them?"

Magnus looked confused. "Shouldn't we?"

"Of course not! We've tried implying they like each other before, they're too awkward to do something on their own. If they know we're setting them up they'll be nervous and the whole thing will be a disaster!"

T.J's voice had been rising as he spoke, to the point where he was no longer whispering and Professor Freya snapped at them to be quiet. They both flinched at the sudden attention by the rest of their classmates, but they kept talking in hushed voices.

"So how are we going to set them up?" Magnus asked.

T.J looked momentarily lost before he shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe if we make it so they're left alone together?"

"Like locking them in a closet?"

"No, not yet. We could make it so they would have to work together in projects and assignments… but neither of us has a class with both of them."

"What if we talk to them about the other?" Magnus suggested. "You know, put in a good word. Like a wingman. Maybe they'll get together faster if they hear nice things about each other."

T.J nodded. "Good, good, that's good. But we can't be too eager, we'll have to act casual. They can't realize we're setting them up."

Magnus bit his bottom lip in thought as he worked with the strange plant in front of him. "What if we leave them alone together like you said? They say people who spent more time together are more likely to fall in love."

"How are we going to do that?"

"Maybe-"

"Didn't I tell you to be quiet?" Professor Freya scolded them.

"We're sorry, miss!" They said in unison.

* * *

Once again, the group of friends was walking down the streets of Hogsmeade. There was an excited buzz in the air as the students of Hogwarts milled around. The first Hogsmeade weekend of the year was always a big deal, whether this was your first time ever in the quaint town or your twentieth.

Despite having spent time in Hogsmeade last year as well, Alex was still happy to be here. She liked the change of scenery the village gave to the castle's corridors, even if she loved Hogwarts. It felt weird to actually be looking forward to school – after all, she had spent her whole life up until now dreading the start of the school year – but that didn't change the fact that she did. She had wanted school to start again so she could see the rest of their friends and roam the school grounds. Sure, the lessons might be boring at time, but she liked everything else around them.

And there was another reason she was excited about this outing; they were putting their plan in motion. Operation "Get Mallory and Halfborn together because their dancing around the topic is annoying" was underway.

Okay, maybe they needed a smaller operation name. She could work on that latter.

They were walking down the village's main road, looking at the different stores that lined the street. The road was full of students in groups, having fun and talking among themselves. There were a few groups like their own, with students from different houses, but a lot were groups from the same house. Alex noticed a group of girls in a tight circle off to the side, stealing not-so-subtle glances at people walking by and giggling. Most people were boys, Alex noted, though they did the same for a few girls too, albeit less enthusiastically since less of them were fawning over them. A couple of the burst out laughing suddenly and their laugh was loud and shook their whole body. Alex could swear she saw two of them topple over.

Alex would never cease to be amazed at how every school seemed to have a group of girls who were like that, constantly checking out boys (and sometimes girls). She had always felt resentment towards those girls before, dubbing them as stupid in her head. Yet she didn't feel that same annoyance now. If anything, seeing them lose their composure over someone pretty was amusing, like those videos of dumb animals Magnus had showed her during the summer (she still didn't quite get how the internet worked). And she couldn't say that some of them weren't cute.

No, she didn't feel any of her previous bitter feeling when she looked at them and Alex now understood that she hadn't disliked girls like them because they were annoying, but rather because she had been jealous. She hadn't realized she had felt like that until she stopped, like how you only noticed there was background noise when it stopped. She had been jealous because they go around as girls and be treated as girls while she was forced, at least most of the time, to play the role of the boy she didn't feel like.

Alex shook he head to shake off those thoughts. There was no reason to bring herself down by thinking of that now. She wasn't at her parents' house or Durmstrang anymore, she could present herself however she liked. She might still get the occasional bigoted comment here and there, but it was nothing she couldn't handle, especially when she knew for a fact that there were people who didn't care about her gender.

In fact, Alex had noticed an increase in kids coming out and telling their teachers to use the correct pronouns. It had surprised Alex that there had been so many other trans kids at school and it had surprised her even more that it had been her bold behavior to make them come out.

She wasn't assuming that's what had made them come out either; a few students had approached her to thank her because her give-no-shits attitude about people judging her had inspired them to come out. There were even children asking her for advise, as if Alex knew what she was doing (spoiler alert: she didn't). Still, she couldn't say that helping others feel more comfortable in their body didn't make her happy.

"Hey, look at that!" Mallory called out. Her freckled hand, under all those layers of clothing, was pointing at the window of the Joke shop. They were launching a new product and students had gathered around to see.

The product was like normal fireworks, those cylinder ones that looked like rockets drawn by little children. The pointy top could be removed and you could put in any design or text you wanted the firework to make. They ones they had on display were smaller than the actual fireworks, at least Alex assumed so, and passerby were free to take one to try it out in front of the shop.

And since these were teenage children who were trying your products, there were more than enough shiny penises glittering in the sky.

… Alex had never thought she'd think those words.

Thankfully, it wasn't just shining genitals that were forming in the sky. There was also a number unicorns, flowers, stars, fandom references and friends calling each other names in bright, colorful fireworks. A lot of the text being lit up in the sky made absolutely no sense, but Alex guessed they were inside jokes of different friend groups.

"Let's make some!" Mallory said before literally _fighting_ people to get to the front of the crowd and come back with an armful of fireworks. There were students glaring at her for how harshly she had made her way through and Alex saw people rubbing their sides and arms in pain because of the redheads' jabs. Meanwhile, she had the twinkle of a child that had just gotten a new toy in her eyes and didn't seem to care at all for the people she had stepped over.

Sometimes Alex was equally scared and proud of this girl.

Mallory gave around the fireworks to the rest of them as well as pens to write with. Magnus was quick to get to work, scribbling frantically on his paper. The rest seemed a bit unsure of what to sketch or write, but thought of something eventually.

The first fire work to go up was Magnus's. From the tag on the side, Alex knew it was a bright blue one and when it exploded it formed a tadris in the sky (of-freaking-course). Magnus looked ridiculously happy to see the little police box take form and Alex could swear she saw him bounce a bit on his feet, like he was holding himself back from jumping up and down. He had on that big smile of his that made deep dimples on his cheeks and made his eyes look tiny.

Next was Halfborn with a simple "Good Morning! You're going to DIE!" in blood red with a stick figure underneath giving a thumbs up. There were even flowers and stars drawn around the text, making it even more ironic.

Next was Alex and hers was the obnoxiously bright purple one that burst in the sky to create the phrase "DOWN WITH THE CIS-TEM". (Because 1) she couldn't think of something else 2) it seemed funny to her and 3) what did you expect?)

Next was Sam with a green firework that made a potato with cute eyes and a speech bubble over its head (body?) that read "Hi, I'm Phil the potato!" They all looked at her with a questioning looks and Sam blushed, mumbling "I couldn't think of something".

Mallory's was pink and read "Kill with Fashion". The 'fashion' was written in fancy cursive and there was a knife next to the text with a bow on the handle. T.J's was a simple doodle of a shotgun with a polka dot bowtie around… whatever guns had for necks.

They were trying to figure out what to do with the extra firework they had when Alex saw Conall from the corner of her eye. It looked like he was trying to get to the front of the shop to get a firework but Alex knew he was too much of a softy to push people out of the way like Mallory.

"Does anyone have an idea what to do with this one?" Halfborn asked but no one had any suggestions. It had been hard enough to come up with things for the first ones.

"Hey, Conall!" Alex called out. "Catch!"

The brunette turned around suddenly, surprised to hear his name out of the blue. He almost dropped the firework when it was thrown at him, but he managed to catch it, even if he almost dropped it ten times in the process.

"Thanks!" He called out to Alex, smiling and cheeks red, probably from the cold.

Alex waved him off as he went to find his friends or a clear spot to launch his firework. When she turned back around to her friends, Halfborn had a weird expression of his face, like he had bitten a lemon.

"What is it?" Alex asked.

"I remembered what he reminded me," Halfborn said. "He's the friend of that Ravenclaw kid that put a hex on you last year."

Alex remembered that day. She didn't remember the face of the boy that had cast a hex on her that well, he didn't want to face her after what happened, and she hardly remembered the boy's friends. But thinking about it harder, she realized Halfborn was right; she had seen the boy and Conall together sometimes, even though she didn't know his name then.

"Oh," she very smartly said. "Well, where do you want to go now?"

No one said anything at her blatantly obvious change of topic, thankfully. They wandered around the town a bit more, buying sweets to sneak back in their dorms and drinking hot beverages. Alex and Sam, with the excuse of wanting to explore, dragged their friends deeper and deeper in the back alleys of Hogsmeade. They kept talking or pointing at things to make sure neither Mallory nor Halfborn were paying attention where they were going. It kind of made Alex feel like a murderer in a horror movie (Magnus had shown her some during the summer, albeit reluctantly). Fortunately, her goal was to set up two friends together, not disembowel anyone.

The street they were in now was much smaller than the one they were in before but no less crowded. It seemed like the part of the village you wouldn't know how to get to unless you were a local, what with all the twisty alley that lead to it.

Enthralled by their new environment, all of her friends were looking around with wonder-filled eyes, ready to go explore.

"Want to go see what's over there?" Mallory said, pointing at one side of the street.

"I actually want to look at something over there," Sam said at the same time Halfborn said "Sure, why not?"

"Why don't we split up?" Alex suggested after seeing the confused look on Mallory's face who was trying to figure out what to do. "You go check out what you want and I'll go with Sam. Buddy system."

"Oh, and Magnus will come with me to check out that store!" T.J said, pointing at a random shop behind him. He sounded a bit too eager, but Alex wasn't about to complain. Her plan was working out perfectly.

"It's settled then!" Alex said quickly. She wasn't going to give time to Mallory or Halfborn to speak up. "Let's meet up in front of Blitzen's Best in an hour or two?"

And with little more conversation, the group of friends split into three and left for different parts of the street. Alex and Mallory walked calmly towards a shop, talking as if everything was normal. When Sam saw Mallory and Halfborn enter a shop, she quickly grabbed Alex and ducked out of the way. Now hidden behind the corner of a house, the two girls finally relaxed.

"We did it!" Sam said triumphantly. Her smile was so wide it split her face in two and she raised her palms up for a high five. Alex was glad to comply and a loud slapping noise came from their hands when the hit them together.

"My evil plan is underway!" Alex cackled as he rubbed her hands together, shoulders hunched high. She had given herself an accent too, though she doubted 'evil' was an accent.

"Now what?" Sam asked. They had spoken about their plan a lot, but it was only now that Alex realized they hadn't talked about what they would do after getting Mallory and Halfborn alone together.

"…I don't know."

"You don't? But this was you plan?"

"I know! I just… wasn't getting any ideas and thought that by the time we get them alone together I must have come up with something." Yes, Alex was the queen (sometimes king) of procrastination, no need to remind her.

Sam looked completely done with her. "And you didn't."

"And I didn't," Alex repeated. "We can still just shadow them and help? You know, give them a push in the right direction."

Sam sighed. "You're lucky I don't have any other ideas." With a sleek movement of hands, her hijab was off, letting her dark hair fall down her back.

Alex was surprised. She's only ever seen Sam take it off in their dorm or occasionally in Hogwarts' halls. Seeing her pull it off in the middle of the street shocked her momentarily, but not nearly as much as it shocked her to see it fade out of existence.

"Um… could it always do that?"

"I bought it from Diagon Alley for my birthday," Sam explained quickly, draping the invisible cloth over her shoulders- wait, hadn't it been smaller? "It's large enough for two people. This way they won't spot us."

Alex didn't ask any more questions – she was still wrapping her mind around the fact her sister had an invisible hijab – and stepped under the cloth next to her sister.

Time to play matchmaker.

* * *

In a nearby shop, Magnus and T.J were hunched close together in the corner of the store window. Anyone looking at the shop window from outside would see the shop's trade arranged tastefully and then, at the back, two boys hunched together suspiciously.

"What just happened?" Magnus asked. Like Mallory and Halfborn, he hadn't quite understood what had been happening before T.J dragged him into the shop.

 _What shop was this, anyway?_ Magnus looked around curiously, only to come face to face with lots of pastel colors and lace. The room was filled almost exclusively of women, which should be expected since they had walked straight in a lingerie store.

"We split up" T.J answered, once again appearing more eager than you'd expect him to be by what he was saying. "Mallory and Halfborn are on their own now!"

Realization slowly dawned on Magnus and he smirked. T.J and he had been trying to find a way to get their two friends alone together without seeming too obvious about what they were trying to do, but they hadn't been able to come up with something. Somehow things had worked in their favor and they didn't need to come up with an idea. And thank goodness for that because they were _this_ close to trying Magnus' 'lock-them-in-a-closet' suggestion.

"Let's go follow them," Magnus suggested. "We need to make sure things work out. Guide them a bit."

T.J nodded his head viciously, but before he was able to answer Magnus one of the store's employees came up to them.

"Excuse me, but I believe you're too young to be in here," she said politely, though anyone could see the amusement in her eyes. It grew even more evident as when the faces of the two boys went completely red as she showed them to the door.

* * *

Mallory and Halfborn had walked into a sport equipment store. There were wandering around inside, pointing at all the different objects sold and fangirling over them. What cute dorks.

Alex and Sam had followed them inside under Sam's invisibility hijab when they opened the door. Walking with this on them was difficult; they had to stay close in order for both of them to be hidden and they couldn't open doors or touch things themselves because no one could see them and if things just started moving around, it would be suspicious. It was the most awkward three-legged race Alex had ever been a part of (well, she'd never taken place in a normal three-legged race to begin with).

Meanwhile, Magnus and T.J were standing outside the store, looking inside as discreetly as possible while knelling in the cold road. They wanted to go in and hear everything they were saying but if they did, they risked being seen and then Mallory and Halfborn wouldn't be spending time alone.

"Now what?" Magnus asked T.J. He had whispered his question even though there was no one around to hear them. Or, well, there was, but all the passerby already thought that there was something weird going on when they saw two boys kneeling outside a sport shop.

"I'm so glad I bought these," T.J said as he fished around in his bag to pull out a pair of extendable ears. "I thought we might need them to set Mallory and Halfborn up so I bought them when we were at the Joke shop."

The ears, or ear, to be more precise, had a pinkish beige color and it split in two at the end, earbuds, so you could put one in either ear. T.J handed one to Magnus and pulled out his wand. With a quick invisibility spell, the extendable ear turned invisible and one quick spell later, it was flying towards the unaware couple-to-be from a small hole in the bottom of the door.

Even though they couldn't see it -because, you know, it was invisible- the ear landed smoothly on the floor near Mallory and Halfborn.

"… the Berserkers are the best," they heard Halfborn say. Magnus recognized Berserkers as the name of the popular Quidditch team Halfborn was a fan of.

"They're pretty good," Mallory agreed. "But I still love the Valkyries more. Those girls are _fierce._ "

"And very attractive," Halfborn said. Through the shop window, Magnus saw him look at a shirt. Something was written on it but he couldn't see what.

"Are they seriously bonding over the fact that both of them think the Valkyries are hot?" T.J asked Magnus incredulously.

Magnus didn't say anything, though T.J was right on it being a weird way for them to get closer romantically. But hey, if it got them together, who was he to complain?

"Man, I can't believe they have a Berserkers shirt!" they heard Halfborn gushing through their extendable ear. "And it looks like an authentic too!"

"Why don't you try it on?" Mallory suggested. "It's right there."

Halfborn looked like he hadn't actually realized this was a shop and he could try on anything, the Berserkers shirt included. He took the shirt from the hanger with the giddiness of a child on Christmas morning and rushed in one of the changing rooms.

Inside the shop, Alex and Sam were still hiding under Sam's invisible hijab. Or they were trying to, but with how hard Alex was elbowing Sam it was hard to make sure something didn't pop out.

"What is it?" Sam hissed at Alex. Her sister was going to out them at this rate!

"This is perfect!" Alex whispered back. "Follow my lead."

Sam knew that nothing good ever came out of Alex's ideas when she had that glint in her eye, but she followed her anyway. Alex walked as soundlessly as possible (after all, the cloth over their heads only stopped people from seeing them, not hearing them) towards the changing room and with one swift movement of her wand caused Mallory to trip and come crushing down on the changing room curtain, falling straight on the chest of a shirtless Halfborn.

Below the hijab, Alex was pushing her hands against her mouth to stop herself from snickering and giving away their position. In front of them, Halfborn looked like a deer cough in headlights with a spluttering and increasingly reddening Mallory in his arms. As his brain caught up with what was happening, his face was quickly covered by a blush.

"I, um, s-sorry," Mallory managed to blurt out before she jumped away from Halfborn as if she had been burned. She tucked a strand of her behind her ear in a nervous tick and hastily closed the curtain again. "Ah, put on that s-shirt."

A weak "Okay" was heard from inside the changing room and a few moments later Halfborn emerged in the crimson shirt of the Berserkers. He turned around, looking at himself in the full body mirror. Alex had no doubt he was imaging himself as a player of the famous Quidditch team. Honestly, the boy loved that team almost religiously.

"It looks good," Mallory said, still red at the face and not actually looking Halfborn in the eye.

"Yeah. I wish I had enough money to buy it."

Alex glanced at the other shirts hanging in the wall to check the price tag. Halfborn was right, it was pretty expensive and Halfborn didn't have that kind of money on him now.

After Halfborn took off the shirt and put o his clothes, the two love birds wandered around in the store some more, but after the fiasco in the changing rooms, there was an awkward air over them.

"Should we, um, go check out something else?" Mallory suggested.

"Yeah, maybe we'll find the others too."

Needless to say, they didn't find the rest. The rest of their Hogsmeade trip was fairly uneventful as T.J and Magnus could only eavesdrop and another opportunity to meddle in their love lives didn't appear again for Alex and Sam. A shame, because Alex was giddy to set them up.

And with the Halloween party approaching, she knew just the thing.

* * *

 **Random fact, but I almost wrote Mallory as Mallory Gunderson instead of Keen in the tags for this chapter in** tumblr **. Oops.**


	8. Skeleton and Vampire dance number

**So here's the new chapter! I don't have to make any comments about being dragged to rehab this time, so on with the story!**

* * *

The Hufflepuff Horror party had everyone at the edge of their seats like always. Anyone with a friend in Hufflepuff was constantly trying to fish them for details about anything and everything; what would be the theme this year, what would the decorations be like, what food they were planning on having. Every time they had Charms, someone would try and get Professor Blitzen to tell them what he would dress up as or at least give them a clue.

Needless to say, it didn't work. The Hufflepuff students had their lips sealed tight, Magnus included, and Alex would tease him about how he was even more secretive than a freaking cult member.

The party wasn't the only thing that was having the table 19 gang so excited. Sam and Alex were scheming, and so were T.J and Magnus. As secretive as they might try to be about their plot to hook up their friends, there was an air of giddy excitement to them that everyone picked up, even Mallory and Halfborn, but they just thought it was because of the party.

There was something else they had noticed too, or rather, Sam, Mallory and T.J had. Ever since the time T.J had been absent and Alex had worked with Conall in Potions, the two had become friends and would work together in Potions or hang out when they had a shared class.

But they didn't do that now. There was an almost subconscious change to Alex's behavior around the Ravenclaw. They didn't tell each other jokes – and when Conall told her one, she didn't laugh like she used to – she didn't work with him in Potions like she did previously and she didn't wave at him when she saw him in the Hall of the Slain or the corridors.

It was becoming glaringly clear to everyone that Alex was avoiding her new friend and they couldn't figure out why. Then one day, as Sam and Mallory were talking together, they realized when it had started.

"It started after our Hogsmeade weekend," Sam said."Think about it. That's the first time you saw her act like that."

Mallory scrunched her eyebrows together as she remembered that, yes, that had been when it all had started. All the incidents of Alex blatantly avoiding Conall had happened after their trip at Hogwarts and the incident in the Sports shop.

"But she had seemed fine then, " Mallory said. "She had even given him our spare firework."

Sam had nodded absentmindedly as she washed her hands in the girl's bathroom sink and thought about everything that had happened that day, trying to pinpoint if something had happened between the two friends. She had been drying her hands with a towel when she realized what it had been.

"Halfborn told her Conall is friends with the boy that attacked her last year," she had told Mallory. The redhead's eyes had grown wide as she understood what her friend was saying was true.

"You can't really blame Alex if that's the case," she had said thoughtfully. "She did find out one of her friends is friends with the boy who had hurt her. She was really shaken up after it. And what if Conall was the other boy that had been there?" Mallory went on. "The one who didn't do anything to help Alex. That would make it even worse."

Sam hadn't known what to say to that other than agree. She could understand why Alex might want to avoid Conall if that's what had happened and she couldn't blame her for it. Still, she didn't like how Conall would come looking for Alex only to be pushed to the side and how being avoided made him look so miserable. It was saddening and, at the very least, if Alex didn't want to be friends anymore, she felt like she should be upfront and tell Conall.

Talking to Alex about it hadn't worked out that well. Alex had been just as avoidant of the topic as she was of Conall.

"Say, how come you haven't worked with Conall in Potions in some time?" Sam had asked one day as casually as she could. Which wasn't much.

"I don't know," Alex said nonchalantly from her place on her bed. She was lying on her stomach with a sketchbook in front of her and she was absentmindedly scratching away at the paper. "It just happened, I guess."

"Mm, okay. Though, if you had a fight or something, you should probably talk about it," Sam went on. "You wouldn't want your friendship to end like this."

Alex had huffed loudly before slamming her sketchbook shut and getting up from the bed. Her movements were short and sharp, almost snappish. She put on her shoes and she was almost at the door when Sam spoke up.

"Where are you going?"

"To the library," she snapped. "I need to look for something."

Alex had almost slammed the door on her way out until she remembered that Sif had nearly inhumanly good hearing and would most probably chew her out if she went around banging doors.

Sam wasn't the first one to bring up the topic of Conall around her. Pretty much all of her friends had, with the exception of Magnus, but with the Hufflepuff Horror party coming up he was probably too busy to pay attention to Alex's dramas.

Why didn't anyone just leave her alone and let her deal with it on her own she didn't know. This was her issue and she didn't want others butting in. So what if she had been avoiding Conall? It's not like they knew how she felt about it. _She_ didn't even know how she felt about it!

'It' being the fact that Conall had been the little sidekick of that dumb Ravenclaw boy that had attacked Alex with a hex last year. The fact that he had been standing _right_ _there_ and sure, maybe he didn't say anything bad, but he didn't say anything good either. He just stood there and didn't help anyone.

A part of Alex was mad that Conall hadn't said anything. Then again, what was he supposed to say? _"Hey, remember me? I'm the bloke who just stood there while one of my friends disfigured your face! I hope we can get along well!"_ Still, it felt like something worth mentioning to Alex.

Another part of Alex couldn't quite trust him anymore. With friends like that boy, who was Alex to say Conall would say bad things like that to her? That he wouldn't hurt her too?

* * *

Instead of last year's haunted forest theme, this year the Hall of the Slain was decorated like the inside of an ancient Egyptian tomb. The walls were spelled to look like sandstone, or at least the students assumed they were because dressing every wall to look like the inside of a pyramid and have it be this realistic would have been very time-consuming. Either way, the walls not only looked but felt realistic; their color, their texture, it was as if you stepped into one of the great Pharaohs' tomb.

Pots and vases littered the corners of the room, surrounded by small piles of gold. Games, weapons, everything you would typically find in the resting place of the kings of Egypt was here, right down to the mummified servants. If you were curious enough to open the jars – like Magnus' group of friends was – you would find that inside them was candy corn, every flavor beans and cranberry juice – if you were lucky. If you were not, you would find wrinkled up organs – long entrails, full stomachs and lungs and blood red hearts. They were all made out of candy, of course; they weren't going to kill people to throw a party.

"Is that a lung?" Mallory asked appalled as T.J slowly lifted the lid off of one pot. A soft pink mass was swimming inside what Magnus knew was a mix of different red berries' juice. It gave a stronger red color than the cranberry juice they used instead of wine so it worked better as blood.

"I'm pretty sure this one is the stomach," Magnus said. Yes, he might have helped with the decorating, but the jars and pots were constantly moved around the room to make sure that no one, not even the Hufflepuff students who had put this up, knew what was in which pot.

"Can we eat it?" Alex asked. Mallory cringed immediately and even Sam and T.J seemed slightly disturbed by the notion of eating something that looked so much like what they had inside their own bodies.

"What?" Alex asked noticing their expressions. "It's not a _real_ stomach. It's just candy. Probably."

Despite the others' lack of enthusiasm, Alex still ended up taking a large bite of the sugary internal organ. "Taste like cherries," is what she said.

And, of course, the décor wouldn't have been complete without sarcophaguses spread around the room. Magnus had seen a group of kids – probably third years from Ravenclaw – walking in dressed as mummies and the joy on their face as they realized they matched this year's theme was amazing. It was a special moment when you matched the party's décor by accident – you felt as if you were the Chosen One.

And, in a way, you could say the Table 19 gang fit the theme. After all, their characters had been in Egypt a few times, if Magnus remembered correctly.

Yes, this year the Mystery Inc. idea had passed and the six friends were dressed up as Scooby Doo and his friends.

Mallory was Daphne and she had straightened her hair to look more like the character (Magnus hadn't missed the way in which Halfborn ogled at her when she walked in). Halfborn was dressed as Freddy and it took them _hours_ to convince him to wear that stupid neck-scarf thing. Sam was Velma and she wore a red hijab that matched the color of the long skirt she was wearing. Magnus made a fairly good Saggy with his long hair and Alex was dressed in a full body suit of Scooby, which Magnus found strangely adorable. (He learned the hard way that he shouldn't scratch behind Alex's fake ear while asking "who's a good girl? Who's a good girl?" unless he wanted to be stepped on.)

As for T.J, well….

"Why do I have to be Scrabby?" T.J huffed when the met up in a hall close to the Hall of the Slain.

"Because you drew the shortest straw and it sucks to be you," Alex had answered him without even turning around to look at him.

So now the six friends were having fun going around dressed as the famous Mystery Inc. Alex, in particular, was having way too much fun randomly yelling "Scooby Dooby Doo!"

Magnus was contemplating whether or not he should try eating some chocolate liver when the lights started blinking suddenly and all music stopped. Magnus gasped and, like every other student in the room, moved to the edges of the dance floor to make room for the nights much awaited special guest.

The room was quickly filled with smoke that rolled in thick waves over the floor. The lights kept going on and off, but now they did so in rhythm with the steady beat that was filling up the hall and growing even louder.

Then, in the middle of the dance floor, he appeared- Professor Blitzen. He was wearing a sharp black suit with bones painted on it. Whatever those bones were made out of, they glowed eerily in the low lighting. Makeup had been applied to the Charms' Professor's face so that he looked like a skeleton- a very realistic (and fashionable) one. Powder had been sprayed over his hair to give it this dusty look as if he had just crawled out of the ground.

He snapped his head up sharply and smiled at the crowd of students. Professor Blitzen was known to always have great costumes for Halloween and he had earned himself a reputation for doing amazingly amusing dances every year. Sometimes he danced all on his own and sometimes he pulled random students from the ground and had them dance with him.

He took a few sharp steps backwards and then stiffened completely. He dropped down like he was, well, a bunch of bones. He picked himself up fast and put his arms in his wide, energetic movements too. He spun and did moves worthy of Michael Jackson. It seemed like just another of his solo dances, but then he rushed forward rapidly and pulled Professor Hearthstone out of the crowd.

Murmurs ran through the crowd of students like ripples in water. Professor Blitzen had never done a number with another teacher so seeing him pull the pale Runes Professor forward had everyone looking at the pair intently.

Professor Hearthstone was dressed like Count Dracula, fake fangs poking out under his bottom lip and a long cape flowing down from his shoulders. He stopped in the middle of the dance floor, right opposite of his skeleton-dressed friend. Professor Blitzen looked at the vampire in front of him as if he was daring him to a battle and after a swift nod from Professor Hearthstone, the two were moving again.

They walked around each other in a wide circle, like two tomcats about to fight. Professor Blitz was the first one to move with a series of fast and precise short movements, syncing to the music's beat perfectly. The moment he stopped dancing, Professor Hearth continued. He picked up from where his coworker had stopped with fluid, graceful movements that made the most of his long limbs and fancy cape. Despite being a much different dance style, it somehow still matched the music just as flawlessly as Professor Blitz' had.

The kept going like that for awhile, switching between the two of them so they each had a chance to dominate the dance floor. The longer they danced, the more elaborate their moves were and everyone was left looking on in awe.

"The sexual tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife, I swear," Magnus heard Alex say next to him. The girl in the dog onesie next to him was looking on at the two teachers dancing with crossed arms but clearly amused if the smirk on her lips was anything to go by.

"What do you mean?" Magnus asked confused.

"Oh, come on!" Alex huffed. "These two are even more obvious than Mallory and Halfborn! I mean, either they're together and they can't keep away from each other or they're not together and are completely oblivious to the fact the other likes them back!"

Magnus turned his attention back to the dance floor but his mind was still buzzing with what Alex had said. It was true that the two Professors were close, they wouldn't be running an organization to help Hogwarts students (which basically meant becoming their parents) if they weren't. Still, Magnus had never thought that the two would be romantically involved, because, well… you didn't think about your teacher's love lives! It was kind of bizarre to think of them with lives outside Hogwarts even though he knew they had them.

Now he could deny there was some truth to what Alex had said. They certainly seemed close, that much was granted, and there was definitely something there. They held eye contact more than people normally do outside of a staring contest, they stood closer together and any time Magnus had seen them in the halls they always accidently brushed hands.

Maybe he was just being paranoid…

As if the universe was toying with him, right as Magnus thought that he could have _sworn_ he saw Professor Hearthstone wink.

 _Did he just wink at him? Merlin's underpants, did he just_ wink _at him?_

As the music rose higher, the two teachers changed their dancing. Instead of dancing separately, they joined together in the middle of the floor as all the lights pooled around them. Both their styles were somehow perfectly combined, Professor Blitzen's precise and swift movements coupled with Professor Hearthstone's gracefulness and fluidity.

They stepped forward and backwards, left and right, their steps synchronized in a way Magnus wasn't sure humans were capable of. They swung their legs out and spun each other around, letting the music move their bodies.

At one point, Professor Blitzen spun the vampire out and pulled him back in by his cape, the long fabric wrapping around Professor Hearth's lithe body. Like a spinning top, Professor Hearthstone span back out again, but this time the skeleton- dressed teacher didn't hold onto his cape. It flowed after the pale man and once they were both in the positions they were in when the Runes teacher joined the dance, they bowed deeply to one another as the music died out.

There was a millisecond of complete and utter silence before the entire student body broke out in a deafening applause. The student's clapping sounded like a freaking _thunderstorm_ and there were wolf-whistles thrown in as well. The two teachers bowed one more time before they gave the floor back to the students.

As one of the most recent hits of the magical world blasted through the room, Alex moved towards the buffet table – she had seen a bowl of eyeballs there she was dying to try. Multiple different colored eyeballs were floating inside the same juice she had found inside the organ jars. She picked a large green one and took it from the bowl with a large spoon propped up against the bowl's side. She held it between her fingers as she bit down, her teeth breaking through the fondant on the outside of the round cake and she found out that the inside was vanilla cake with a center of melted chocolate.

 _I never thought eyeballs were so tasty._

She was about to go in for another bit when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around, she came face to face with none other than Conall, a large pirate's hat resting on his head and one of those frilly tie things around his neck.

"Um… Hey, Alex," he managed to get out nervously. His right hand had come up and it was rubbing the back of his neck nervously, something Alex knew he did when he was nervous. She had seen him do it a lot of times when the Professor asked him a question in Potions. Sometimes, when he didn't know the answer, Alex would spell it in the air below their desk so he could see it.

The memories made a sharp pang of bitterness in Alex's heart. A part of her felt guilty for ignoring Conall all this time and acting as though he didn't exist. Seeing him standing right there reminded her that she had probably hurt him a lot by avoiding him.

"Could we, um… could we talk?" he asked hesitantly. His hands kept fiddling with his clothes and his eyes darted around the room, at the buffet table, at the decoration, at the students dancing. He looked like a child that was nervous to answer his teacher's question in class.

Alex felt like that too. She opted for the bullshit-your-way-out-of-this response.

"I think my friends are waiting for me somewhere over there, so…" She stepped to the side, ready to run across the Hall of the Slain if she needed to. She was about to move towards where she supposed some of her friends were when Conall grabbed onto the shoulder of her Scooby Doo onesie.

"Please, Alex." His eyes were wide and pleading and Alex cursed his innocent looks. How could he possibly look more like a puppy when she was literary dressed like one? "I swear I won't take long. I just need to talk with you."

Alex looked at him hesitantly before sighing and walking to a quite side of the room to talk peacefully. She didn't quite know why she agreed to talk. Maybe her guilt had caught up to her or maybe she was weak to Conall's puppy eyes.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Conall asked when they finally found a quiet place next to an organ jar (Alex was pretty sure she had checked this one earlier and it had a gut inside). "Is it something that I did?"

Alex didn't speak. Now it was her turn to let her eyes dart around the room and she looked everywhere but at the pirate dressed boy in front of her.

"Look, whatever I did that upset you, I'm sorry," Conall went on. Desperation was evident in the way he stood; his legs were apart, like a boxer in a fighting stance, and his shoulders were hunched up. He posture was slightly slumped forward like a hunchback and he kept turning his arms around, never taking them too far away from his body. "I really want to keep being friends, so please just tell me what I did wrong."

Alex still wasn't looking at him. After a few moments –moments which went by agonizingly slow for Conall - she sighed. She hadn't liked avoiding Conall all this time, they were good friends, and she wanted things to go back to normal just as much as he did.

 _Maybe I should just stop being a coward and talk._

"One of my friends recognized you as a friend of the boy that attacked me last year and… I remembered you had been the boy with him when he cast a hex on me."

Conall's breath hitched and Alex finally looked at him. His eyes were wide with shock, mouth agape and skin paler than usual. His bottom lip trembled and he turned his eyes to the floor in shame.

"Alex, I… I'm sorry, I… Look, I'm really sorry that happened-"

Maybe it was mean of Alex, but she didn't let him finish. The words rushed out of her mouth before she could stop and she didn't consider what the consequences might be – if she would hurt Conall, if she would say something she would regret later.

"You didn't look sorry then," she said bluntly. She looked Conall in the eye, and for those first few words, her eyes cut like daggers. Conall didn't need to be a genius to know he had messed up. He felt like throwing up. "You didn't do anything. You just stood there while he said horrible things about me."

Conall looked away in disgrace. He knew Alex was right, he knew she had every right to be mad at him. He couldn't blame her.

Still, this, his friendship with Alex, was something he didn't want to lose. He had never had so much fun with someone, he never felt so at ease around a person he wasn't related to. Alex didn't mock him about his meek character like other people did, even people who called themselves his friends. Her smile did weird things to him – he didn't want to think about what that might mean, exactly why he felt as though he would throw up every time Alex laughed (and liked that feeling) - but what he knew was that he wanted to keep being close to her.

Alex sighed and run a hand through her hair under the dog hoodie." I guess I just… I feel weird, you know. Scared. I like being friends but I don't want to get hurt like that again, and I'm not sure I can trust you. You never even told me it had been you!"

Alex waited for him to answer. The music blared around them and yet Alex didn't hear it; all her attention was on the pirate boy in front of her that was struggling to find the right words to explain himself.

"I'm sorry, Alex. I know it sounds lame," _You're right, it does,_ "but I really am sorry. I should have said something to Dick but I've never been good at standing up for myself. I know it's not an excuse, but -"

"Wait, his name is really dick?" Alex interrupted him. Had his name really been Dick this whole time? And here she thought she was just insulting him every time he popped up in her mind but she had actually been calling him by name!

"It's short for Richard," Conall explained simply before continuing his apologizing. "I'm sorry, really. I know I should have told you, but you always looked really cool and fun so I didn't want to ruin my chances of being friends by telling you the moment we met at King's Cross." At this point, Conall's hands might as well have had a mind of their own with how much they moved around. He was nervous and he wasn't quite thinking about what was coming out of his mouth – the only thing he knew was that he wanted Alex to still be his friend ( _maybe something more,_ something in the back of his brain said quietly)and he was ready to do anything to make sure she forgave him. "And then I kept telling myself I'll tell you at the right time but I kept putting it off because the right time never came."

Somewhere along his speech, he had taken off his pirate hand and was now holding onto it, pulling nervously at the seams and waving it around as he talked. "And I just… I'm sorry. I really hope we can keep being friends."

Should Alex forgive him? At one hand, she wanted to be bitter. She wanted to walk away and act as if they had never been friends and she wouldn't miss him if they never spoke to each other again.

But she would and she knew it. She liked being friends, she had said that much already, and she liked talking with him at Potions and sharing horrible jokes. She liked his infectious stupid laugh when she told him a particularly bad joke and how the teacher would call him out on it only to make him laugh more hysterically, even if that resulted in both of them losing a few house points.

"We can try," she said. Conall's head snapped up and his eyes shone with hope. Alex was pretty sure he would have jumped up and down like a five-year-old that got a pony if she hadn't kept talking. "But you need to be honest with me. No more secrets."

He did a mock salute, a smile so wide on his face you were afraid it made break it apart. "Yes, ma'am!" he said cheerily. He felt his heart do that weird fluttering thing again when Alex smiled at him amused and he pushed down the thought he might still be hiding something from her.

"But seriously, who names their child Dick?" Alex asked randomly. She wanted to break the ice between them and that goddamn name was the first thing to pop into her mind. "Like, do you want other kids to taunt them? What kind of self-fulfilling prophecy is it?"

Conall chuckled. "I don't know. I haven't even talked to him in weeks."

 _Oh?_ "How so?"

"We had a fight. He didn't like I was hanging out with you so much because, you know, he doesn't like you. He told me we can't be friends if I'm also your friend."

 _Well, I guess there's a reason his parents named him that._ "Seriously? What a dick. What did you do?"

"I got up and went to sit down at a different table."

Alex's eyes went wide and she couldn't contain her laughter. The mere mental image of that happening was enough to make double over. The tail at the butt if her onesie kept moving as her body shook with giggles.

"Seriously?"

Conall nodded, that same huge smile plastered on his face. His whole being seemed to light up and his eyes sparkled with happiness. There was still that slight nervousness in his posture but he looked a lot happier that he was when he approached Alex moments before.

As Alex was calming down from her fits of laughter, her eyes fell on Sam across the room. Mallory and Halfborn were nowhere near them and Sam was making large gestures to beckon her over, though she looked more like she was signaling a plane to land. Alex tilted her head in confusion at her sister's actions and did a quick "why?" gesture.

Sam threw her head back in exasperation and started dancing around in place like she was a princess dancing with her prince charming. Alex's eyes widened as she realized what she was trying to tell her. _Fuck, I forgot the dance! And this was my plan too!_ She could understand Sam's exasperation now.

"Shit," she said under her breath. There was a questioning noise from Conall and Alex turned to him. "I swear I'm not trying to avoid you, but I need to go find my friends and hook them up."

Conall seemed more confused than anything, but he wordlessly let her go. Alex rushed to the opposite side of the room to her sister.

"I'm sorry I forgot!" She apologized immediately.

"It's okay, just go find Halfborn and bring him to the dance floor."

Alex saluted before running off to find the ox of a boy dressed in a silly scarf around his neck. It wasn't hard, considering how tall the Gryffindor boy was.

"Hey, Halfborn!" She called out. The tall boy turned around, a questioning look on his face, not so much because he didn't know why Alex was calling him but because he was surprised she hadn't called him an idiot or something synonymous.

"Let's go to the dance floor! I bet I can wipe it clean with you face!"

Not much else needed to be said as Halfborn followed her among the dancing students. She saw Sam approaching from the other side with Mallory on toe. If everything went according to plan then any minute now…

"And now, time for couple dancing! Find a partner and hit the dance floor!" The makeshift D.J of the party said. (They didn't even have a D.J, it was just some kid who liked making announcements, so he made comments using a spell to make his voice louder.)

 _Perfect_.

Alex scanned the dance floor as students who didn't want to dance in pairs left. She spotted Magnus' blonde head among the students and grabbed him by the hand.

"Let's dance!" She said and completely abandoned Halfborn. She saw Sam do the same with Mallory as she went to dance with T.J.

 _Now to make sure they don't leave…_

"Hey, Halfborn, Mallory! I bet Magnus and I can dance better than you!"

"No, T.J and I will be better!" Sam argued.

Alex could see the challenge affect the two love birds. They were both competitive people and they wouldn't turn down a challenge.

"Oh, you're on!" Mallory said as she grabbed Halfborn's hand so they could start dancing.

They danced as the music played around them. Sam and T.J were dancing from a distance, the way you would see couples dancing at clubs. They moved to the beat, putting their whole bodies into it even if neither of them knew anything about dance (not that Alex did).

Alex and Magnus choose a more over-the-top style. They held hands and they danced like a couple in a Disney movie but much, _much_ more ridiculously. They threw each other around and twirled one another. They laughed so loudly you'd think they were drunk, but they've only drunk juice.

Mallory and Halfborn were nervous at first. She couldn't be sure because of the lighting, but Alex thought she saw Mallory blush. She wondered if she was remembering a half naked Halfborn from the sport's shop. They danced with the nervousness of someone who had two feet and had never danced before.

 _Better do something about that._

"Is that all you got?" Alex asked and twirled Magnus for extra emphasis. The two loved birds glared at her, but her plan had worked out; they were much closer now and they didn't move just as frigidly.

They kept doing that for the entirety of the next two songs, Alex and Sam taking turns to drill them on and make them dance harder, closer. They were barely a step apart now, limbs moving in synchrony and eyes not leaving each other even when Alex shit-talked them. As cliché as it might sound, it looked like they had forgotten where they were and were completely engrossed in each other.

"Couple time is almost over, so make sure to go out with a bang!" Announcer kid said.

The music build higher and higher. Alex span Magnus outwards and as he came back in, she asked: "Want to French-dip you?"

A quiet 'Huh?' left Magnus' mouth, but Alex didn't hear it because of the loud music and choose to take his silence as a yes. With all the mastery those dreadful dance lessons her parents had made her attend gave her, Alex dipped Magnus down gracefully like they were playing in a dumb movie. The only difference being that they would be laughing like idiots if they were in a movie.

Halfborn and Mallory opted for a similar move, only theirs ended with them much closer together than Magnus and Alex. As the music died down, then were left panting on the dance floor, their faces bare centimeters from each other.

 _If I lean in we'll kiss,_ they both thought absentmindedly. As the thought registered, a blush crept over their faces and they broke away.

Once more this night, their thoughts were very similar.

 _He looked so good._

 _She was so beautiful._

 _I want to kiss him._

 _I want to kiss her._

 _End me._

* * *

 **Fun fact: The idea for a dance number was inspired by one of my math/geometry teachers who goes ALL out every Halloween and always has a dance number too.**

 **Once more people, in regards to Conall's little crush, trust me, I know what I'm doing. (Narrator: She did not.)**


	9. Don't ask Magnus for love advise

**So here's the new chapter! I don't have much to say this time, mostly because I got exams coming up and... yeah, pray for my ass (or laugh at my misery. That works too). Anyway, I gotta go back to studying now, so bye!(Someone save me!)**

* * *

A cool breeze blew the player's hair out of their faces as the Slytherin and Ravenclaw Quidditch teams played against each other. With Christmas closing in on them – students who were planning to go back home for the holiday were scheduled to leave in two days - the weather was getting colder and colder by the second. At the moment, the sky was fully covered in clouds, giving the impression that the sky was white instead of blue. Magnus' nose felt as if it might break of- something he had learned could actually happen and he wasn't that keen on experiencing it.

Magnus, Halfborn, T.J and Conall were sitting at the stands and, much like them when Slytherin had played against Gryffindor last year, the latter was dressed in both teams' colors. Conall had been nervously looking around for a seat when Magnus saw him, clearly feeling out of place because of people looking at him. Magnus knew the feeling well; it was weird going to a Quidditch match dressed in both teams' colors, especially if it was the first time you did it.

"Hey, Conall!" Magnus had called out to him. "Come over here!"

The freckled boy had seemed extremely grateful to be taken out of the uncomfortable situation he had been in. He had walked over to where Magnus and his friends had been sitting and tried to make small talk. Magnus had made a point of being extra friendly- Conall was a friend of Alex, after all, so even if they hadn't talked much, that made him his friend.

The match had gone down like you'd expect a Quidditch match to go down. Both teams did their best to steal the balls and score points and the Seekers hovered above the court like hawks, scanning the space below them for any sign of the golden little ball that would guarantee them victory.

T.J was just as energetic as he always was during Quidditch games, easily cheering just as much as an entire cheerleader squad. With the addition of Halfborn, they were a sight to behold- they waved their scarves around and cheered with an almost religious fervor. With Halfborn's booming voice and T.J's enthusiasm, they were more than enough to make up for the entirety of the Slytherin stand – probably the Ravenclaw one too.

Magnus had been watching his friends go all out with an amused smile when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to Conall who was sitting next to him with a questioning look.

"Mm, what is it?"

"I, ah, I was wondering if you could help me with something," he said nervously. His hands were fiddling with the ends of his scarf and Magnus kind of wanted to tell him to stop doing that because he might completely ruin it if he kept at it.

"What is it?" Magnus asked.

"Well, um, I kind of-" Conall started. Realizing he was simply rambling on, he stopped and started over again. "Okay, so I have this friend and, well… I think I like her!" he said quickly.

Magnus was taken aback by the confession. He was expecting Conall to ask him about schoolwork or something like that. He wasn't expecting for the other boy to confide to him about his love life. He wanted to tell Conall he's better off asking T.J or Alex –even Sam- rather than him, but he was a sucker for helping people and he didn't want to disappoint him. He was already trying to get Halfborn and Mallory together – maybe he had some advice to give him. It might work.

His mind quickly went through all the girls he had seen Conall talk to more than once. There was Alex, obviously, but it couldn't possibly be him because he was a boy today (though maybe he didn't know, but it seemed unlikely it was Alex he was talking about). He tried to remember all the random people whose names he didn't know he had seen around Conall and he remembered a chubby girl with chocolate brown hair he had seen around the boy a lot. She recognized her from the Hufflepuff common room and he knew she was in his Herbology class. He remembered them working together often and laughing at Conall's bad jokes, so he felt confident she was the one he was talking about.

"Oh, okay. But what do you need my help for?" Magnus asked. He had a pretty clear idea what this was about, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"Well, I, I think I like her, but… I'm not sure if I should tell her. I don't like hiding it from her, but I don't want things to be weird, so I'm not sure what to do."

Magnus nodded. Yeah, this is what he had been expecting. He thought back to the chubby girl. He had always though she was the giggly type of girl, mostly because he always remembered her giggling at one of Conall's joke, maybe a bit too much considering how bad they were (even if that was kind of the point). He had had random thoughts about how it looked like she had a crush on him, but he never entertained the thought too much, considering his habit of paring together people he didn't even know in his head.

"I think you should tell her," Magnus said. "Who knows, maybe she likes you back. And if she doesn't, just be mature about it and things won't be awkward." _At least that's what they always say in TV shows._

"Are you sure?" the boy asked. Magnus had to say, Conall had an amazing ability to make himself seem as tiny as possible. With the way he was sitting hunched over his knees and his shoulders pulled high as if to hide himself, he looked like a frightened kitten in human form.

"Of course. Don't worry about it too much. Just be honest, I'm sure she'll understand. And if she does like you back, you might even become a couple, so it's kinda worth the risk," Magnus said, putting what he hopped was a comforting hand on Conall's shoulder. "Of course, you don't need to rush. Just prepare yourself and do it whenever you feel ready."

There was a moment of silence as Conall took it all in but eventually he nodded. "Alright. Thank you for helping-"

It was at this moment that an ear-splitting roar went up through the crowd and Magnus realized that he had lost track of time as they were talking and someone had caught the Snitch.

"What happened? Who caught it?" he asked confused, getting up from his seat in hopes he could see over the crowd at what had happened. It was no use; everyone was standing up, cheering because of whatever amazing game had just taken place. He looked around quickly in order to figure out which students were losing their shit more.

With that scientific method, he deduced it was Ravenclaw who had won. The majority of the cheering crowd was dressed in blue and T.J and Halfborn seemed a bit disappointed.

"We won! We won!" an overenthusiastic Ravenclaw student said as he grabbed Conall by the shoulders and started shaking him back and forth as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. Poor Conall was left there wondering of what had just happened and why a kid he had never talked to was shaking him like a rug doll.

Regardless of what had gone down, the stands slowly emptied as students went to congratulate their friends who had won, consult their friends that had lost or simply leave because the match was done.

Magnus, T.J, Halfborn and Conall were standing by the door of the Slytherin locker room, waiting for their friends to come out. They were taking longer than normal for some reason.

Magnus couldn't help but remember what had happened here a year ago. The moment was still fresh in his mind as if it had happened yesterday; the smell of the stuffy locker room around him, the sports equipment lining the selves, Sam's comforting touch as he told her about his mother's death. The burning in his eyes as he cried the tears he had been holding back for so long, the hoarseness of his throat from the crying, the sorrow that had finally allowed to wash over him after keeping it back like water in a dam.

Still… Magnus had come a long way since then. He wasn't over the tragedy that had happened that summer night, not at all, but he had come to terms with it. He understood that grief wasn't something you forgot and moved on from but rather something you accepted and learned to live with. He still hadn't gotten the courage to visit his mother's grave, but he was getting there.

"Hey, Magnus, T.J? Can I talk with you for a sec?" Halfborn asked. There was something in the way he said it that made Magnus think this was about something important – maybe it was how uncertain the taller boy seemed about what he was saying, maybe it was that his eyes didn't quite meet theirs.

T.J and Magnus nodded. "Sure, of course," the Ravenclaw said.

There was a moment of pause as no one said anything before Halfborn coughed and said. "Um, it's private." He send a side glance at Conall, who was still standing near them and Magnus got the message.

"Oh, Conall, we'll be back in a while," Magnus said and he walked with his other two friends to the side of the locker room building where Conall wouldn't hear them.

"What's wrong?" T.J asked as soon at they were out of earshot.

"I, well, I wanted to talk to you about…" Halfborn started, but his words trailed off. He seemed almost as nervous as he was before an especially big exam – a rare sight because Halfborn was rarely nervous over an exam.

"About?" Magnus egged him on, doing a little 'keep going' gesture with his hand. It looked like he was cutting circles in the air with his hand.

"About… well, Mallory," the ox of a boy continued.

If there was one way to describe the smile that took over T.J's face at that exact moment it was shit eating. The most shit eating grin of them all. Magnus was half excepting him to say "you liiiiiiike her" in a silly voice. Fortunately for Halfborn's dignity, he didn't do that.

"What about Mallory?" he asked innocently instead. He might have asked the question with the innocence of a kindergartener but Magnus didn't miss the evil glint in his eye. Oh, he was enjoying this so much.

"Y-you know…" Halfborn said, his cheeks as red as the hair of the girl he was talking about.

"No, I don't. You need to tell me," T.J went on, clearly seeing how this was embarrassing his friend and clearly enjoying it.

"He's right," Magnus added. T.J wasn't going to have all the fun. "We can't read minds, we won't know what you're trying to say to us unless you say it."

"Ugh!" Halfborn let out a loud groan, literally pulling at his hair, before turning back to T.J and Magnus. "I like Mallory, alright? I like Mallory!" he hissed at them.

" _What?"_ Magnus said, making his accent sound as over-the-top as bad American actors pretending they were British. "Why, I would have never even imagined it! Would you, T.J?"

"No, of course not, dear Magnus. This comes as such a surprise to me!" T.J said, mimicking Magnus' dramatic actions. "Why, next thing you know, you'll tell me the sky is blue or that water is wet!"

"Okay, I get it!" Halfborn said, red as a tomato. "Now can you stop being little shits and help me out? What am I supposed to do?"

"Ask her out," T.J and Magnus said in unison, faces completely straight.

"I-I—what? I-I can't do that!" Halfborn spluttered out. He looked around him suspiciously, as if he was afraid someone would hear the shocking revelation that he, a teenage boy, wanted to ask out a girl.

"Yes, you can," Magnus said. He momentarily though if he should think of it as weird that he was giving love advice to two different people when his own love life was nonexistent, but he pushed that thought to the side. "You just go up to her, use your words and ask her on a date."

"But I-"

"You're scared because this is something new and you don't know how to go on about it," T.J interrupted. "We get it, but come on! You're a Gryffindor, you can do this! You're supposed to be brave!"

Magnus nodded along. "Yeah, he's right. You've won so many Quidditch matches and will give up before something this small?"

"Although you figured out your feelings for Mallory a bit late, considering you're both leaving for home in two days, but better late than never!" T.J added.

Halfborn seemed to deflate at that, probably preferring to get this out of the way soon, rip it off like a bandage, instead of having to deal with his feeling for the entirety of the Christmas Holidays.

"But hey, this can still work out!" Magnus continued in hopes of cheering up his friend. "We're going to exchange gifts tomorrow, so you can ask her out on a date then. It'll just be after you come back to school, so you have the holidays to prepare."

Halfborn seemed to have mixed feeling about that. Magnus could tell by the look in his eyes that he wasn't against the idea, yet the mere prospect of going thought with it terrified him.

"Anyway, we better go back, lover boy. Your beloved and the others must have come out by now," T.J said. Magnus saw the blush on Halfborn's cheeks darken with every nod to his crush. He would have felt bad for the boy if he wasn't enjoying this so much.

Meanwhile, in our universe in the Slytherin locker rooms, Mallory was having a very similar conversation with the two metamorphmagus siblings.

"Um, Alex, Sam? Could I talk with you for a moment?" Mallory asked as her friends were gathering up their things to leave. Most players had left by now and the sweat-smelling room was empty but for them.

"Of course. What is it?" Sam asked.

"Okay, I'm going to tell you something but you have to swear not to make fun of me," Mallory stated. She had hardly said what she wanted to and yet she was already blushing as red as her hair.

"Who, me? Make fun of you? Oh, why, I would never!" Alex said in mock offence, making his accent as obnoxious as possible and holding a hand in front of his mouth like a lot of his mother's friends would do (he always hated those ladies).

Mallory glared at Alex, clearly done with the green-haired boy's bullshit. Sam rolled her eyes at her brother's antics and turned to Mallory. "We won't make fun of you, Mallory."

"I can't make any promises," Alex said mater-of-fact-ly. Sam gave him a sharp elbow to the side. "Ouch! I was being honest!"

" _I_ won't make fun of you, and I'll make sure to hit Alex if he does," Sam corrected.

"These aren't good terms for me," Alex muttered, but his complaints went unheard as Mallory started talking.

"Okay, so remember when you said I have a crush on Halfborn?" The two siblings nodded. "You may… have been right."

Mallory's words may have been barely audible, but it was still enough for them to ring out in her friends ears. The smile that spread out on Alex's face at that moment would have been enough to land him the role of the Cheshire Cat in any adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Sam smiled like a mother proud that her child finally realized that it was being stupid and changed its ways.

"You know, if I was any less of a friend, I would tease you right now," Alex said. "But I'm a great friend, so I won't do that now that you told us about your _crush_ on Halfborn."

Mallory rolled her eyes with a grunt and sat down at the bench- though perhaps a better word for it would be 'plopped down' or slumped'. "What am I gonna do?"

Alex and Sam exchanged glances, a silent 'is she kidding us?' passing between them. It was times like this that Mallory wish they wouldn't do that. They were able to communicate well even without speaking and it kinda freaked her out (even though she knew she did the same with her own siblings).

"You ask him out?" Sam asked. Mallory knew for a fact the unspoken 'duh' at the start of her question would have been much more evident were this Alex asking. That wasn't the case with Sam, who was nicer about it.

"Yeah, but…" a string of incomprehensible grunts and gurgles left Mallory's mouth as she tried to explain what she wanted to say. "I'm embarrassed!" she finally relented, throwing her head back in frustration.

"Wow, she actually admitted it," Alex mused as he looked at his friend.

"I want to do something, but I don't know how!" Mallory said. "And I know that if I wait until after Christmas I'll chicken out!"

Sam sighed and sat down next to Mallory. "Okay, calm down. It's not all bad. You can ask him out before you leave and you can have your date after you come back."

"Yeah, she's right!" Alex proclaimed, having come up with an idea. "You can do it when we're exchanging presents!"

Mallory bit at her lip anxiously. "I don't know…"

"Come on, it'll be great!"Alex egged her on. "And we'll be there to support you. It's going to be fine unless you don't, like, throw up on his shoes." Alex seemed thoughtful for a moment before she said, "Now that I think about it, you might not want to eat before you ask him. Just to be on the safe side."

Sam sent Alex an annoyed glare, at which the boy just shrugged. It was valid advice.

Mallory sighed and got up, thought she looked so exhausted it was as if she had just run a marathon. "Anyway, we better get going. The others must be waiting for us."

They were, or rather, he was. When the three Quidditch players left the locker rooms, the only one waiting for them outside was Conall, who stood awkwardly against the wall. He was trying (and failing) to spin his wand with his fingers like T.J would often do. The three roommates happened to walk out just when his wand fell from his hands again and he bend down to retrieve it, cussing under his breath (though, knowing Conall, his cussing was most probably things like 'darn it' and 'so of a biscuit', Alex thought).

"Hey, Conall. Where are the others?" Alex asked. The Ravenclaw boy snapped up so fast it was a wonder he didn't lose his balance and fall over.

"Alex!" His cheeks were red and Alex found it typical for the boy (and kinda cute, though he refused to dwell on that one too long) to be embarrassed he was caught falling to do something as simple as spin a wand.

"Uh, Halfborn wanted to talk with them about something, so I stayed here to wait for you," the boy explained. "Oh, um… great game today. You did great. Y-you all did great!"

Alex smiled at the compliment -and at the fact that Conall's freckles made him look like a strawberry when he blushed. It was strangely endearing. "Thank you."

It was then that Magnus, T.J and Halfborn reared from behind the side of the locker rooms. There was a flush to Halfborn's cheeks and he wore a similar tired expression as Mallory. Alex assumed he had tired himself out cheering for them. The boy really did go over board when it came to Quidditch.

"Oh, you came out!" T.J said when he saw his sweaty Slytherin friends. "Come on, we better get going, we don't want to miss dinner."

* * *

The next day, the last day the majority of students would be still be at Hogwarts, the table 19 gang was in the library. Snow fell outside the window, small specks of white touching the ground and covering it in a thick white blanket that looked too soft to be made out of ice. Magnus could remember clearly when he was a child and hadn't seen snow up close, how he thought it must be soft and fluffy. With his intelligent five-year-old brain, Magnus had come up with the brilliant plan of flopping down on a mountain of snow like he would if it was a bed.

Yes, Magnus had been a stupid child.

The group of friends was gathered around one of the tables by the windows that overlooked the Quidditch field. It was covered in snow now too and it amazed Magnus how just yesterday it was clear enough to play. Then again, the weather was known to be unpredictable around this time of year and it wasn't as if it had never suddenly snowed this much before.

Magnus recognized the view from the window. They had somehow decided to sit at the table Magnus had been sitting at last year, when Professor Hearthstone came to talk to him about his mother – well, the teacher hadn't known it was about his mother at the time. It seemed a weird coincidence that they choose to sit here to exchange their presents, yet the familiar table didn't leave a bitter taste in Magnus' mouth.

At least, not a lot. His mother's death still hurt him a lot at times, but he was getting better at copping with it and he now knew he could go to others for comfort instead of dealing with it all on his own.

"Okay, who's gonna go first?" Alex asked. She was practically bouncing where she stood and she had a wide smile on her face like, well, like a child on Christmas morning.

"Me!" T.J raised his hand high, like he was trying to get a teachers attention because they were blind as a bat and he _clearly_ knew the answer, unlike all the other dumb students.

T.J reached out in his backpack and pulled out small packages he gave to his friends. Inside them were small bubbleheads of their favorite Quidditch players for Mallory, Halfborn and Alex, a beautiful blue headscarf with colorful designs on it for Sam and a small tadris for Magnus. When the blonde opened its little door experimentally, it was like he had opened a duffel back instead of a keychain sized blue police box.

"Is this like Professor Blitzen's bags?" Magnus asked excitedly. His fanboy was coming through, he knew that, but he couldn't help it. This was so cool!

"Yep! I found it in a thrift store and thought you'd like it."

"Why would anyone ever throw away something like this?" Magnus asked in genuine confusion as he cradled the small gift in his hands.

"Your fanboy is showing," Alex said, barely holding back a laugh.

"I don't care."

The next one to give out their gifts was Sam, who handed each one a box or a bag. She might not celebrate Christmas, obviously, but her friends always felt weird to give presents to everyone else but her, so she ended up receiving gifts too. It only felt right to return the favor.

In Alex's bag was a pink and green argyle sweater, which she immediately put on and hugged it while it was on her body. "I'm never taking this off," she muttered, just a bit psychotically. Magnus thought it was equally amusing and adorable.

Mallory's gift was a cute little bracelet with little charms on it that looked like brooms and Quidditch balls. There was a Snitch dangling from it too, painted in gold metallic paint to look like an actual Snitch and not something made out of plastic.

Halfborn's gift was several of those cool fireworks they played with on the Hogsmeade visit from before Halloween. T.J unwrapped his gift to find it was a thick book- a mystery novel if the title was anything to go by. "Oh, nice," he said before immediately flipping the book over so he could read the synopsis. Inside Magnus' bag was also a book and Magnus recognized it as a horror novel he's been meaning to read.

Next was Halfborn with another book for T.J, an ugly sweater with the Doctor on it for Magnus, a box that screamed bloody murder if you opened it without tapping the correct rhythm on its lid first for Alex, a book on brooms and flying spells for Sam and a Valkyries shirt for Mallory.

"Oh mu god, this is amazing!" Mallory exclaimed when she realized what her gift was. "This is great! Oh, my sister will be _so_ jealous!"

Magnus gave his presents next. He was close to giggling as he handed each of his friends their gifts and they noticed. They opened their bags with caution, as they should because inside their bags were some of the ugliest Christmas sweaters they had ever seen.

Sam's was plain hideous, with a giant reindeer stitched on it and a perturbing red nose that glistened. Mallory's had a Christmas tree on it with multicolored fuzzy balls stitched on its branches and the colored clashed terribly. T.J's had Jesus on it with balloons around him and a shirt that read 'Birthday Boy'. Alex's had a scowling Grumpy Cat wearing a Santa hat on it and the word 'NO' written in Christmas lights bellow it. Halfborn's was simple designs in red and white and three reindeers having a threesome right in the middle.

"Seriously?" Alex asked. It wasn't clear whether she found the sweaters funny or atrocious and Magnus thought it was safe to assume a bit of both.

"Yep. I got one too!" He pulled out another sweater and this one had Darth Vader on it wearing a Santa hat. 'I find your lack of cheer disturbing" was written underneath. "I plan to wear it around Professor Blitzen to annoy him."

The other teens silently prayed for their Charms teacher. He would probably have an aneurism if he had to see these sweaters for too long.

Next was Alex, who handed out bags to each of her friends. She looked so excited to be giving them their gifts that her friends were scarred to open their gifts. _Please let it not be more ugly sweaters,_ Mallory prayed before opening her bag.

It wasn't more ugly sweaters, thank goodness, but rather a hat and a scarf. The same thing was in each of their bags, only the design and color of them changing between each friend.

"I knitted you scarves and hats!" Alex said enthusiastically. "I don't know how to make gloves yet, though."

"You made this?" Mallory asked as she held up her gifts. "They're amazing!"

They were, even more so because Alex had made them herself. She watched her friends try on her creations and turn them around in her hands, feeling the yarn. Magnus was pulling lightly at the sides of the scarf to see how the yarn was woven together and he looked strangely like a kitten. Sam tuned the hat in her hands before rubbing it against her face- Alex couldn't blame her, she had used a fluffy yarn. It was like touching clouds.

And last one to give out their gifts was Mallory. Inside the bags she handed each of her friends were sweatshirts. They looked pretty mundane until they actually pulled them out. Each and every one of them had a pun on it and the letters or little images moved on the fabric.

Alex's was dark green, the same green as her Slytherin tie, and the word "Can I Slyther _in?_ " were typed on it in silver letters. There was even a small snake underneath that winked at them. Sam's said "I'm a wizard, don't talk to me" with little sparks going on and off around the words. T.J's was blue with a wand that was going back and forth and the words "Is that a wand in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" above it. Magnus' was Hufflepuff yellow with a cute little bagger on it and the words "Everyday I'm Huffling!"

" Oh, this is great!" Magnus said as he held the shirt against of his body to see if it would fit him.

Halfborn was the only one who hadn't gotten a gift. Mallory handed him his bag, but there was something hesitant in the way she did it. Her eyes were looking anywhere, everywhere, except at the boy next to her and her cheeks were flushed pink. Halfborn was confused by her behavior a bit, but didn't question it, instead opening the bag to pull out another shirt and –

"Oh my God!" Halfborn exclaimed when he saw that his gift was the Berserkers shirt he had tried on back before Halloween on their Hogsmeade visit. What's more, there was a black scribble near the bottom that Halfborn realized was the player's signature.

"I, um, remembered how you said you would like to buy this shirt, so I thought it was a good present idea," Mallory muttered, never looking Halfborn straight in the eye. "Do you like it?"

"I love it! Oh, this is amazing!" In his excitement, Halfborn reached out and hugged Mallory tight. The poor girl almost died from all the blood that rushed to her face. Thankfully, the hug didn't last long because Halfborn quickly realized what he had done and let Mallory go as his cheeks burned red.

"Um, this is really cool."

"Y-you're welcome," Mallory managed to get out, even thought she looked this close to having a seizure. "Oh, um, I think there's still a note in there."

Halfborn looked down into the bag and saw the note Mallory was referring to lying in its bottom. He pulled it out and unfolded the creased paper. In Mallory's neat, fancy handwriting (that Halfborn had a bit of trouble making out) was written "Would you like to go on a date with me once we come back to school after Christmas?"

Mallory had rehearsed how to ask him out in her head, but she never felt comfortable with what she came up with and she was to afraid she'd mess up to actually get a word out. She felt silly for having to resort to something as childish as asking him via note, but at least she didn't die while asking. (That said, it took her twenty seven drafts before she actually put the note in his present.)

Yet those few moments it took Halfborn to figure out what she had written on the paper (he had told her time and again he couldn't make out her writing easily) were absolute torture to Mallory. Did he think she was joking? Did he think she was silly or a coward for sending him a note instead of telling him? Was he not speaking because he was trying to find a way to let her down easy?

Mallory was snapped out of her thoughts when Halfborn cleared his throat. "I was meaning to ask you that, actually. I'd really like to."

Mallory's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Really? That's, um, that's good. Should I sent you an owl during the holidays so we can figure out when we're – we're going to do that project?"

Mallory was only able to save it at the last minute, but Halfborn still seemed very confused about what was happening. He opened his mouth to ask her what she meant when she sent a sideways glance to their friends. Sam and Alex might know that Mallory was asking Halfborn out, but she didn't want to put up with Magnus and T.J teasing her too.

"Ah, yeah," Halfborn said, understanding what Mallory was doing. "I'll send you a letter about our project."

"What is your project on?" Magnus asked cheekily. Halfborn wanted to punch him at that moment.

"It's for Potions," Alex said with an equally smug face. "It's on love potions."

Honestly, these two could be such little shits sometimes they should just get together (or maybe not, they would be an even worse combo).

Mallory might have been extremely happy about finally asking out Halfborn, but she silently vowed that one day she would pay back the green haired girl with her own coin.


	10. Halfborn's Hair is a Monster

**I have writer's block, exams are kicking my ass all the way to Valhalla. Here's the new chapter. Please enjoy while I go die in the corner.**

* * *

Sam stood nervously in front of the old pub that was the entrance to Diagon Alley. Her coat was jipped all the way up and she pulled her hijab closer over her head to protect herself from the cold breeze. A thin blanket of snow lay on the sidewalks, dirty from all the people who had stepped on it. The people passing by were bundled up in heavy coats and thick scarves. None for them paid any notice to Sam and Alex, her brother today, who were leaning against the wall in front of the pub.

Sam looked down at her watch for what must have been the twentieth time in the past fifteen minutes. The process had been the same each time: first, Sam glances up and down the street, searching the crowd for a familiar face. Then, once she doesn't see that familiar face, she looks down at her watch only to see that it has barely moved and pulls her hijab closer.

Alex had seen his sister do the same thing over and over so much it was starting to get on his nerves.

"Calm down, Sam," he finally said, pushing his body off the wall and standing straight. "Amir will come any minute now."

Sam had told Alex about her plan before she left Hogwarts. She had been working on it for some time – after all, she couldn't just bring a muggle to Diagon Alley, so she didn't let Alex know until she had everything planned. It had been difficult to convince Professor Sif to let Alex come to London today, but after telling the Transfiguration teacher that Sam's grandparents wanted to meet him and that he couldn't tell them no, she had agreed to take Alex with her when she went to London to meet an old friend.

So today, only an hour ago, Alex and Professor Sif had apparated close to Sam's house. Professor Sif hadn't stayed around long, telling Alex she would come to pick him up from Sam's house at eight.

Alex had made sure to turn his hair brown before he knocked on Sam's door. The whole plan hinged on Sam's grandparents allowing her to leave with Alex, so he had to make a good impression.

The whole meeting-your-sister's-grandparents thing had been awkward, but in the end they let Sam leave with Alex. According to them "Simply looking at you is enough to realize you're his son." Alex didn't know how to take that.

So now Alex and Sam were waiting for Amir to arrive. Sam had tried to find some sort of excuse so Amir would forget about their argument and her reluctance to talk about her school, but it didn't feel right. Amir had been her friend ever since she was little, he was a good boy and he cared for her. Lying to him about such a big part of her life didn't feel right.

Sam sighed heavily. "I know. I'm just… I'm anxious. What if this doesn't work?"

Sam was a wreck, her brother could see this. He knew Sam had trouble sleeping when something was troubling her, so Alex knew she hadn't slept well, if at all. The dark circles under her eyes were proof of this and she kept fiddling with the fabric of her scarf.

Alex rested his hands on Sam's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "It will work. Don't doubt yourself, okay? Everything will be fine. Just show him your world and explain. I'm sure he'll understand."

"You haven't even met him before."

"Maybe. But he must be a good guy if you like him so much. And hey," Alex continued with a smirk, "if it will help, I can follow you around and sing 'A whole new world'."

Sam actually laughed at that and Alex felt proud for making her forget her nervousness, even for just a moment. "Yeah, that might help," Sam said after she stopped laughing.

"Does that mean I can sing it?"

"No, please don't do it."

"Aw, come on!"

"Um, excuse me," someone said. Sam turned around suddenly to see Amir, a long scarf wrapped around his neck. "Hello, Sam."

"Amir! I didn't notice you had arrived! Hello."

Amir smiled and Alex saw his sister blush – she might say it was because of the cold later, but Alex didn't buy that.

"It's nice to see you again," Amir said. He turned to Alex. "And who is that?"

"That's Alex, he's my half-brother. We go to school together."

"Nice to meet my future brother-in-law," Alex said as he offered his hand to Amir for a handshake. He could see Sam blush even more at that and Alex cackled evilly in his head.

"Nice to meet you too. I didn't know Sam had a brother." Amir spoke those words with a smile, but it still sent a pang of guilt through Sam. Her having a brother was only one of the things Amir didn't know about her.

"Don't worry, she didn't either," Alex joked. "We didn't even know the other existed until we met last year. And even then we didn't learn we were related for a long time."

"Oh." Amir seemed confused and Alex didn't blame him. Just wait until he heard the whole story. "So what are we going to do?"

"I want to show you something. Follow me."

Sam didn't wait for Amir to answer and walked into the Leaky Cauldron. Amir seemed surprised to be taken into some random pub he hadn't even noticed was there but Alex grabbed his sleeve and kept walking.

"Sam, where are we going-" he tried asking, but Alex shushed him quickly.

"Don't talk," the other boy said and Amir immediately shut up.

Sam took them to the back of the pub and stopped in front of a brick wall with a large garbage bin in front of it. Amir looked on perplexed as Sam counted three bricks up from the garbage bin and two across.

"What are you-" he started asking but the words died in his throat as the bricks started moving aside like a curtain to reveal an archway.

"W-what?"

Sam didn't speak and instead walked through the archway, Alex and Amir right behind her. Amir reached out to the walls of the archway experimentally, touching them with gentle fingers as if they would disappear.

When they exited the archway they were in a loud, bustling street. A street. How-? T-they had only just walked in a pub and –how was a street back here? Amir had been around this part of London before and yet he didn't recognize this street at all and – was that a flying broom?

"S-Sam, where are we?" he asked. Sam turned around to face him and rubbed her arm awkwardly.

"Do you remember the argument we had some time ago? About my not telling you anything about my school?" She asked. Amir nodded. What did that have to do with anything? "Well, I was afraid you wouldn't believe me if I told you, so I thought bringing you here would be a good idea."

Sam took a deep breath as she bend down and pulled a long stick out of her boot – it looked like a wand you'd see kids holding on Halloween. "I'm a wizard."

The words were so random Amir didn't register them for a second. "A… wizard?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. A pointy-hats, flying-broomsticks wizard. But I'm not allowed to do magic during the holidays."

Amir was gaping like a fish, his mouth moving up and down like he wanted to say something but no words came out. "I…I don't understand," he finally said.

So Sam took a deep breath and explained everything to him. About how her mother was a Muggle – what they call non-magic people – and her father a wizard. How she received her Hogwarts letter when she was eleven and how she left every September to go to a remote castle in Scotland to study magic. How she had a wand and a flying broomstick and knew how to make potions and cast spells.

She told him everything that had happened during her five years at Hogwarts up until now and she told him about all her friends and her teachers and her lessons. By the end of it all Amir looked utterly overwhelmed.

"I… I don't know what to say."

Sam frowned. She moved her hand closer to Amir's, close enough that they were almost touching but not quite. "I know this is a lot to take in, but… I didn't want to leave you in the dark anymore. You have a right of knowing and I didn't want us to fight over this again."

Amir smiled at her and Sam finally let herself relax. "I understand. I'm glad you told me, but… I'm still really confused about all this."

"And this is why we're here!" Alex finally spoke. "You two lovebirds just go take a walk and ask Sam about anything that confuses you. I'll come along to make sure you don't end up making out in some dirty alley."

Sam and Amir blushed at Alex's words but they did as he said. They spent the rest of the day walking around Diagon Alley window-shopping and stopping in front of every store so Sam and Alex could explain to Amir what they sold there and how it worked. They lingered in front of some shops longer than others- they spent nearly half an hour in front of the Quidditch shop so Sam could explain to him what the sport was and how it was played and what it was she did during the game.

"I'd love to see you play sometime," he had said when Sam had finally finished explaining. "You always wanted to be able to fly. I bet you're great at it."

Sam had blushed at the compliment and smiled. Telling Amir about the magical part of her life had worked out and she couldn't be happier.

* * *

Christmas holidays went by in a flash. Why weekends and holidays went by so fast yet the school year dragged on, Alex didn't know. Still, there was something good about school starting up again, even if lessons sucked your soul out of your body like a Dementor, and that was the energy the castle got back. There simply wasn't as much going on around the school when all of its students weren't there.

And one of those thing was The Date™. Mallory and Halfborn's date was coming up soon, as soon as their first Hogsmeade weekend in the second semester, in fact. Alex didn't know if she should be this exited when it wasn't even her date, but she was. Finally, _finally,_ those two got a hint and would go on a date. Her ship was becoming cannon, as Magnus would put it.

So here they were, standing in their room almost two hours before they were supposed to leave for Hogsmeade. The room was a _mess_ put simply. All three girls' closets were wide open and clothes covered all three of their beds. Mallory was sitting in what little space she had managed to find among all the different articles of clothing and she was looking around the hurricane aftermath that her room had become.

"Why did you empty out all of our closets?" she finally asked.

"You need to get dressed!" Alex said and went back to digging through her closet. It looked two times as bad as the rest of the room and Mallory knew that was nothing new.

"I know, but what does that have to do with you two blowing our room up? And we have two more hours before we have to leave for Hogsmeade. We have plenty of time."

"Come on, this is your first date with Halfborn, aren't you excited?"

Mallory blushed. When Alex said it like that it was like there would be more dates afterwards (which she really hoped for).

"Yes, but I still don't get why you had to make our room look like a complete clusterfuck."

"We need to find you a good outfit! So we need to look everywhere. We wear about the same size so this will be fine. Though my clothes might be a bit large on you, but it's okay…" The whole time Alex was talking she was searching around the piles of clothes in their room.

Mallory gestured at the green haired girl with both arms in a 'are you seeing this shit' kind of way. "Are you honestly letting her do this?" she asked Sam.

The girl shrugged. "She said she'll clean up all the mess on her own afterwards, so I can't complain. And I want to help you out too."

Mallory sighed. Really, Alex and Sam were the best friends a girl could ask for, but still. She already felt jumpy enough as it was- their putting so much emphasis on what she would wear made it even worse.

"Guys, I really appreciate what you're doing, but it's okay. You don't have to make our room into a battlefield so I can find an outfit."

Alex paused her digging. "You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." She looked around the room for a moment and then said, "You still have to clean this up, though."

Alex's shoulders slumped. "Fiiiine. At least let me look at what you're going to wear."

In the end, both Mallory and Sam felt bad to watch Alex tidy up that mess on her own so they helped her out. When their room didn't look like something from a sitcom's teen girl's room, they finally started talking about what Mallory should wear.

"What were you thinking about?" Alex asked.

"I don't know. Jeans, a nice shirt and those boots you got?"

"The brown ones with the buckles?"

"Yeah, those."

"That sounds good," Sam said. "Let's find you a nice shirt."

Twenty minutes later, Mallory's outfit was lying on Alex's bed and the girls had Mallory sat between them as they gave her advice. She had to say it was kind of laughable considering Alex had never gone on a date (as far as she knew) and Sam's dating experiences were far from typical (like, how many fifteen year olds did you know with betrotheds?). Their advice was probably pulled from TV dramas and romance movies, but Mallory really appreciated their efforts.

Similar things were happening to the other party of this date as well. Since the three boys weren't in the same house, it was hard to do the same thing the girls had done. Still, Halfborn managed to get them into his room and they tried to find his nicest looking shirt and jeans. It sounded easy, but Halfborn's closet could rival Alex's in messiness and most of his clothes needed ironing.

Once they found clothes that would look decent once they weren't a crumpled mess, Magnus ironed them with a quick spell. Both Halfborn and T.J looked at him amazed- they probably didn't even know this spell existed.

"Professor Hearthstone showed it to us during summer," he explained. "It's much more convenient when you have to iron a lot of clothes."

With Halfborn's outfit figured out, they set out for the bigger, more taunting task: taming Halfborn's wild hair and his beard. Or to-be-beard, anyway. The teachers didn't allow him to have one since he was a student, but he never shaved it until it was long enough that he would get detention if he didn't. Magnus had no doubt that once he graduated next year (Halfborn was a year older than them after all) he would grow a beard worthy of Santa Claus or the Vikings in _How to train your Dragon._

T.J decided that if they were going to fight this battle they should go all out. They dragged a chair from the common room in front of the bathroom mirror and sat Halfborn down on it. They tied a towel around his neck like they did at the barber's and brought the tools they would need close by.

"Water," T.J said as if he was playing in some doctor drama. Magnus handed him a sprayer filled with water. T.J proceeded to use it to spray Halfborn's hair with water so it would be easier to deal with.

"Comb."Magnus handed T.J the comb and the boy started pulling it through Halfborn's hair. Or he tried to, at least, because he was obviously having trouble with it. The comb had hardly gone through a third of the hair's length when it got stuck. T.J took it out of the hairy mess and tried again but to no avail. The comb was stuck once more and T.J looked at it troubled.

"When did you last comb your hair?" Magnus asked, glancing cautiously at the comb stuck in Halfborn's hair. Which was stupid because it was just hair and a comb; there was no reason for him to look at it like it was a jumpy cat that could claw his eyes out any minute. Thought if a rat had nested in there he wouldn't be surprised.

"Two days ago?" Halfborn said. "It gets tangled easily so I normally comb it in the shower when it's wet. It's easier that way."

"Yeah, but it looks like something nested in there!" T.J exclaimed. "What did you do to it to make it like this?"

Halfborn shrugged and shook his head like he was finally admitting something was a lost cause. "I don't know man, I don't know."

And so an epic battle began. It would go down in history, the day two brave boys had the courage to face the untamable beast. They fought bravely and many weapons were needed for the exhausting battle. It lasted for hours, but neither boy was ready to give up despite the odds being against them. They attacked, again and again, using every weapon at their disposal. Every time it seemed as though the monster was finally defeated it would spring back up.

Many historians would try to explain what it was that helped them land the final blow and lay waste to the beast. Maybe it was the boys' courage, their teamwork or their determination. Whatever it might have been, bards will sing their praise for centuries to come.

"Okay, we finally finished," Magnus sighed as he plopped down on the floor. He flexed his fingers which were tired from holding the comb so tight for so long. The comb he had used was lying discarded near him, a ball of hair on it that looked like a hamster. T.J's comb was a similar mess, but at least Halfborn's hair was now untangled with no odd kinks in it.

"I feel like I just fought a dragon." T.J was lying on his back on Halfborn's bed, spread out like a starfish. He did look like he had just fought a dragon- minus all the shoot and charred clothes that probably came with fighting a fire-breathing beast.

With Halfborn's hair out of the way, they got to the second formidable task.

"Just do it," Magnus said, pushing the sharp object closer to the Gryffindor's face.

"No."

"It's for your own good, Halfborn," T.J added. "You want to look good for your date with Mallory, right?"

"Mallory likes my beard."

"Maybe she does, but it's good to look sharp for a date. And I assume it's not that comfortable to kiss someone whose face is covered in hair." The thought of kissing his crush seemed to make Halfborn consider it so Magnus kept going. "And you don't even have to be completely clean shaved. You can just shave it into a 5 o'clock shadow, just get rid of all this fluff."

Halfborn looked at his scruffy beard through the mirror and with sad eyes, as if he was ordering the doctor to put down his fatally sick pet, he nodded at his two friends. "Do it."

And so the time came. The group of friends headed to Hogsmeade along with the rest of the students. Yet this time they didn't do it as a group, but rather each Mallory and Halfborn were accompanied by their friends that helped them get ready. It felt weirdly like they were the couple's best men and women.

They met outside Blitzen's Best, Sam and Alex flanking Mallory and Magnus and T.J walking by Halfborn to make sure he wouldn't suddenly chicken out and leave.

"Fuck," Halfborn swore under his breath and Magnus wouldn't have heard him if he wasn't walking so close to him. He glanced up at the taller boy to see his eyes transfixed on his date. Magnus understood why; Mallory looked great.

Then again, Mallory always looked great (all his friends' did. Somehow Magnus had very attractive friends). So maybe it wasn't so much how she looked that had Halfborn unable to utter a word but rather the fact the he was going on a date with her. That he hadn't realized this was all actually happening until he saw the redhead standing opposite him.

Mallory was wearing jeans that showed off how fit her legs were from Quidditch and a pair of brown boots that gave a weird fantasy feeling to Magnus, like these were the boots the heroine wore when she left to kill a dragon. She wore a deep blue knitted shirt and one of those cool loopy scarves that Magnus was pretty sure Alex had made her.

"Get her, tiger," T.J whispered, low enough that only Halfborn and Magnus would hear him. And Halfborn heard him because he gulped as if he was about to play an especially crucial Quidditch match.

"Hey, Mallory," Halfborn said. Magnus was proud that he didn't stutter when he talked. "You look really g-good."

He spoke too soon.

"Thank you." Mallory smiled at him. "You look nice too. I like the pony tail."

Halfborn reached behind his head at the small pony tail at the base of his neck Magnus had made him make. "Trust me, the pony tail always works," the blond had told him as he had shoved the hair tie in the Gryffindor's face.

"How do you know that?" Halfborn had asked.

"It always does in movies," Magnus had explained.

"Do you, um, want to get going?" Halfborn asked. Mallory nodded and the two of them left their friends behind as they went on their date.

Magnus turned to his friends. "So what do you want to do while the love birds are on a date?"

Alex and T.J looked at him as if he was crazy. "We follow them," they said together.

"Are you sure?" Sam asked. "Shouldn't we give them privacy?"

"We won't _follow_ them," Alex said. "We'll just happen to be close to where they are."

"Completely by chance," T.J added.

"Exactly."

Magnus took a moment to stare at his two friends who were beaming innocently, expecting one of them to crack up and say they were just joking and suggest something else they should do. Yet neither of them talked and Magnus realized they were completely serious.

The blonde boy let out a loud sigh. "Alright," he said. "Let's go."

The four teens followed the hopefully-will-be-couple from a safe distance as they entered Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. It was the dictionary definition of pink and frilly, with everything inside in shades of pastel and lace absolutely everywhere. Magnus was over-dosing on sugar just looking at it.

"Seriously?" Alex muttered under her breath.

Halfborn and Mallory walked up to the door. It was painted pastel blue, like most things in the shop, and both of them went to reach for the doorknob at the same time. They stopped abruptly when their hands collided above the brass handle and looked at each other nervously.

"Eh, um… Here," Halfborn said quickly as he averted his eyes from Mallory to avoid the awkwardness and opened the door for her.

"Thanks," Mallory said as she walked it and waited at the side for Halfborn to come in too.

Outside, the rest of the table 19 gang was looking in through the window. T.J did a little victory gesture. Magnus knew it was because they had advised Halfborn to be a gentleman and he had remembered.

Inside the Lolita-puke shop, Mallory and Halfborn sat down at a table. The chairs were a light cream color and made from metal that shaped hearts at the back. A bow held the little cushions onto the chairs and the table was covered in a dainty tablecloth with lace at the end. Mallory couldn't help but wonder who had decorated this place and whether they had chosen all these things un-ironically. She would be worried about their mental health if they had.

She reached for the menu that stood in one of those little wooden stands they had at cafes and restaurants and her hand bumped with Halfborn's again. She snapped hers back quickly, cheeks turning pink. What was this, a stupid rom-com?

"You can look first," Halfborn said and pushed the menu towards her. Damn it, why was this so awkward?

Mallory looked through the menu and once again couldn't believe the amount of bows, sparkle and cute things someone could shove into something. Who had made this thing, a five year old? There were little cartoon bunnies, puppies and kittens drawn next to the shop specialties telling the customers they should try it because it tasted "sooo good~!" and lace was drawn at the top and bottom margins. Stars, hearts and flowers littered the page at random and every item was written in fancy cursive.

After five minutes of looking thought the available options and trying to make out what each word was supposed to be, Mallory gave up. They had a picture of a milkshake there, inside an elaborate sketch of a frame, so she could just get one of those.

After Halfborn attempted to make sense of the menu too and failed, they decided to order.

"What would you like?" the waitress said cheerfully. She was probably meant to act that way to match with the shop's theme. Thought just walking around in that outfit was enough for that. It looked like a maid outfit; a chocolate brown dress that reached her knees, with details in pink and pink lace at the trim of the skirt, the sleeves and the neckline. A mint green ribbon held her apron in place and a similar one held her chestnut curls back in a ponytail. Mallory guessed the outfit was cute in theory but it simply looked awkward in practice. The girl should be paid just for putting that thing on.

"I'd like a cookies and cream milkshake," Mallory said.

"Make that two," Halfborn added.

The girl wrote that down on her notepad before she left with a smile. Mallory watched her go before she turned back to her date.

"So, um… how are you doing?" he asked her.

"Good, good. You?"

"Good."

Silence. Mallory's eyes darted across the room. Oh hey, that picture of a puppy on the wall is nice. And I like what they've done with the flowers at the tables. Man, I didn't know my shirt was so interesting. It's nice how the thread loops together to make the fabric and—

Damn it, what was wrong with her? Here she was, on the date she hoped she'd get with Halfborn for so long, even if she didn't let herself admit it sometimes, and she couldn't get a word out!

"So, um, you have your hair in a ponytail," she said, latching onto the first conversation starter she could find. Damn it, his hair? Really?

"Uh, yeah. Magnus insisted on it. He and T.J wanted to help me get ready." He chuckled and Mallory cocked an eyebrow, curious as to what was so funny. "They spent an hour trying to untangle it because it had somehow turned into a mess."

Outside the window, T.J and Alex were face palming. Really, his messy hair? That's the conversation topic he chooses?

Yet, somehow, Mallory laughed at that. "Man, really?" Halfborn nodded. "I feel you," she said. "My hair is a mess too. I can spent an hour trying to untangle it and get all the kinks out and then it'll be a mess again two minutes after I'm finished!"

"I know, right?"

Magnus blinked, surprised. "Well, that worked."

The two kids laughed, finally being able to relax over their stupid banter about their tragic hair. Once they calmed down, Halfborn talked.

"You look really nice today."

"Thank you. You do too," Mallory smiled. "Sam and Alex insisted on helping me too. Well, it was mostly Alex."

Outside the shop, Sam nodded in agreement,

"She turned our room into a battle zone!" Mallory went on. "If I didn't know what had actually happened I would have sworn a bomb went off in there or something."

Halfborn burst out laughing at the mental image. His laughter was contagious and soon Mallory was laughing along with him. Their conversation went on normally after that and any anxiousness they had about their date went away.

Until, that is, the waitress came back with their drinks. Or drink, to be more specific. Singular.

"Here you go," she said cheerfully as she set down their milkshake, two straws swimming inside it. Both Mallory and Halfborn were too shocked to talk and the waitress left as they stared at their drink like it was a human brain someone had just dropped at their table.

Outside the shop, Magnus and Sam were giggling at their friends' distraught faces, T.J was almost squealing with delight and Alex was doing a full on victory dance in the middle of the street.

Conall happened to pass by at that moment and he paused when he saw the object of his affections (read: his crush) doing the most ridiculous dance moves in the middle of the street, hidden behind a tree.

"Um, are you okay, Alex?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm great!" She punctuated her sentence with a freaking _pirouette._ "Mallory and Halfborn are having a date, come spy on them with us!"

She grabbed Conall by the wrist and had him kneel down in their hiding spot. Her hand didn't leave his wrist and Conall didn't feel like letting her know.

Back inside the shop, the happy couple was still looking at their milkshake in horror.

"I-I… why is it only one?" Mallory stammered out. Halfborn shook his head, just as blind as to why they were given a single, larger-than-normal-milkshake instead of two separate ones. He quickly turned around and grabbed a menu from the empty table behind them. He flipped it open on the page with the milkshakes and saw what he hadn't noticed before.

There, right at the bottom of the page, a cartoon teddy bear was informing the customers that in light of Valentine's Day, couples who ordered the same beverage could get a bigger one to share for the price of one.

He sighed in exasperation and gave the menu to Mallory to see for herself. "They have a special offer."

Mallory scrunched her eyebrows as she read what the little bear was saying. Halfborn knew when she finished because she slumped down on her chair and sighed just as heavily as he had.

"They must have assumed we wanted a shared one since we both ordered the same one."

"Should we tell them we don't want it?"

Mallory bit her lip. Should they? They were getting both their drinks for the price of one, it was a pretty good deal. Maybe they shouldn't say anything. It wasn't like she _wanted_ to share a drink with him or anything. They were students, it wasn't like their allowances were that big anyway. She was just doing this because it was logical. (Later, Alex would call her a tsundere for that. Mallory guessed she should be mad, but she didn't even know what that meant.)

"It's okay, I guess," she answered slowly. "I mean, it's two for the price of one a-and we both get our own straw, so it's fine."

"O-okay."

Mallory leaned in tentatively to take a sip of her drink. Halfborn did the same thing and leaning over the table like this put their faces impossibly close. Mallory could make out each individual hair of Halfborn's eyebrows, the different shades of color in his eyes, that faint scar on his forehead from when she threw a ball at him and he fell of his broom during a match.

Maybe being this close to him should have made her a blushing, bumbling mess. A lovestruck schoolgirl (which she was anyway).

But it didn't. Instead it made her want to map out his eyes and the way his skin stretched over his face. She didn't want to look away.

But Halfborn did. He pulled back just enough that he could talk and said, "Staring contest. The first one to look away before we finish this loses."

Mallory, who had stopped sipping so she wouldn't drink all of it and leave nothing for Halfborn, smirked. "You're on."

Their mouths were back on the straws and they sucked away, draining their glass more and more. Yet their eyes never left each other's. The battle was intense, like a final Quidditch match between their houses.

Before long, their glass was empty, ice cream that hadn't had the chance to melt staining its walls. Mallory and Halfborn were still at it, not looking away for a single second.

"I can't believe their having a staring contest on their date," T.J muttered, but he didn't take his eyes of the couple. He wanted to see who would win.

"Ten sickles Mallory wins," Alex says.

"Ten on Halfborn," Magnus adds.

T.J raises his hand. "Fifteen on Halfborn."

With a sigh clearly saying "I can't believe we're betting on this" Sam said, "Ten for Mallory."

Meanwhile, Conall looked at the kids around him confused. Were they actually betting on their friends' starring contest? Should he bet too? Should Alex still be holding his wrist like this?

He didn't get to pour over his worries for long though (at least the first two) because Mallory had decided to put an end to their competition. Never breaking their intense eye contact, she pursed her lips and blew a kiss to Halfborn. The poor boy was so surprised by the sudden gesture that he burst out laughing. One moment they were locking gazes like two warriors before an epic battle and then Mallory completely breaks the mood by doing something so cute like this.

Dear Lord, this girl would be the death of him one of these days.

"I win!" Mallory exclaimed triumphantly, throwing her fists up in the air. Outside, Magnus and T.J paid Alex and Sam.

The rest of their date had been great. After they had broken the ice in the tea shop it was much easier to spend time alone together without freaking out because they were on a date. The wandered around Hogsmeade and did the same stupid, random shit they would have done anyway. They messed around at the joke shop, bought candy and threw a contest to see who could throw peddles further in a small pond.

The only thing that might have let people know that they weren't just friends hanging out together was their linked hands. "So your hands don't get cold," Halfborn had said when he took her hand.

Mallory grinned. "I still have another hand."

"Yeah, well, it would be weird to walk if I held both, so you'll have to make due," Halfborn had said through his blush.

By the end of their date, it was safe to say there would be a second one. And probably many, many more.

But the biggest bombshell of the evening hadn't fell until they were standing at the entrance to Hogwarts, each student ready to leave for their respective dorms so they could change out of their clothes and relax.

"Um, Alex?" Conall had mumbled uncertainly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Mm? Yeah, sure. What is it?"

The freckled boy had fiddled with the hem of his shirt and had stared at his shoes. He had muttered a string of incomprehensive words before Alex told him to speak clearer because she couldn't understand what he was saying.

That's when the bomb fell.

"W-would you like to go on a date with me?"

Alex's eyes had widened in surprise. Maybe it was her good mood after everything that had happened that day, maybe it was the fact she liked spending time with Conall and that he was kind and awfully cute, if awkward. Whatever it was, Alex opened he mouth and her answer was,

"Yes."

* * *

 **(Yes, I'm projecting my hair pain on Mallory and Halfborn. shut up.)**  
 **I am glad to announce that we are at the halfway mark! *throws confetti* If everything goes according to plan (it never does) this will be twenty chapters long. We're getting there!**  
 **Now, buckle up kiddos cause their sixth year is going to be a wild ride (and by** that **I mean Magnus will spend the whole year singing 'Treat you better'). The** fierrochase **I promised starts here! (Took me long enough)**


	11. I will never be satisfied

**Ladies, gentlemen, and folks of every gender, the fierrochase finally begins! You know, I wanted this to be slow-burn when it came to their relationship but I think I went a bit overboard (okay, a lot). Well, better late than never, right? (Please don't kill me).**

* * *

How had it come to this? What had Magnus done to deserve such cruel treatment? Was it that pencil he had found on the floor in third grade he knew belonged to Betty buy didn't return? Was it the spiders he had stepped on? Should he have helped more grandmas cross the street?

Whatever Magnus had done, apparently it was enough for the Universe to believe he deserved this punishment- sitting in Alex's room because she wanted help to get ready for a _date._

Magnus had been just as surprised as everyone else when Conall had turned around and asked Alex on a date. He had remembered back to that Quidditch game where the Ravenclaw had asked him for love advice and had realized it had been Alex he was talking about. At that moment, he had felt stupid for not realizing sooner.

Alex had said yes and the two had started dating. Magnus had felt a bit weird about it at first, trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Alex now had a boyfriend (who he had advised to ask her out). He had grown so accustomed to her presence in their little group that it felt odd not to have Alex around anymore when they went to Hogsmeade because she was on a date. She had been hesitant at first to ditch their group to go on a date, but they had all assured her it was fine, even Magnus.

"Yeah, go on your date, just don't burn anything down," Magnus had said when she had asked whether they were sure it was okay for her to hang out with Conall in Hogsmeade instead of them.

Alex's hesitance to leave their group at first had quickly melted away until she and Conall were basically joined at the hip – it became unusual to see one of them without the other close by. Conall even started sitting at their table on occasion and Magnus was weirdly reminded of those sickly-sweet couples in teen flicks.

Magnus had said so a few times around the rest of their friends (never around Alex because he didn't want to be rude). Their responses had ranged from agreement to Halfborn and Mallory teasing him that he's jealous.

"What's with the sour face?" Sam had asked one morning in their fifth year when Magnus had walked into the Hall of the Slain for lunch with a grimace and no hunger for food anymore.

"I went to ask Alex if I could borrow her textbook for Magical Creatures but I found her sucking face with Conall," Magnus had answered as he slumped down on his chair. He put some food on his plate even though he didn't feel like eating after that. He ended up just poking at his food with his fork and trying to make little towers out of mashed potatoes.

"Don't you want to eat, Magnus?" Sam had asked worried. She had always been the mum friend in their group.

"He's too jealous to eat now," Halfborn had snickered before Magnus had the chance to say that he wasn't hungry. The tips of his ears burned as he bit back at Halfborn that he wasn't _jealous._

"Yeah, mate, whatever you say," was all the Gryffindor had to say.

So here he was now, sitting the wrong way on Alex's desk chair, his hands resting on the back of the swirly chair as Alex threw clothes around. He didn't even get why she was asking him to help. First of all, he wasn't helping as much as just sitting there as Alex put on different outfits and somehow manage to find something wrong in them (what he didn't know- she looked good in everything). Second, she had already been on so many dates with Conall already, should she really be at such a loss as to what to wear? Conall didn't seem to care, he would gawk and compliment Alex even if she wore a sack of potatoes.

Alex was trying on a different set of clothes when a little head poked through the door. A young girl with bronze skin and silky hair in two braids came in, looking at Magnus curiously with her big eyes.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

With a voice that could have easily belonged to a crappy movie zombie, Magnus said, "I'm helping Alex choose what to wear for her date."

The little girl giggled. "Silly, you're terrible with clothes!" As if to emphasize that, she gestured at his loud Doctor Who shirt with both of her little arms.

"Gee, thanks," Magnus said sarcastically. He couldn't get angry at Cheyenne even if he wanted to, she was just too lovable. Cheyenne was the youngest resident of Perthro, a year too young for Hogwarts. Her older sister, Sara, who Magnus knew up until recently as Zach, was a fourth year Hufflepuff student and one of the many students Perthro helped. After speaking with Professor Blitzen and Professor Hearthstone, she had brought her little sister along as well, too afraid to let her stay with their parents.

Cheyenne giggled again. "I'm just teasing you!" She looked around the room for a bit, staring at all the different articles of clothing around. From time to time, she'd pick something up and say to Magnus with a beaming face that this would look great on her sister. She really loved picking Sara's clothes and making her hair and when Sara had sat her down to explain why she didn't like the name Zach anymore because she was a girl, Cheyenne had been confused at first, but quickly exclaimed that if Sara was a girl then she would make sure she's "the prettiest girl in the whole wide world!"

After she got tired of playing around, she walked back to Magnus and sat down near his legs, absentmindedly playing with his laces. Magnus had a pretty good suspicion she would tie them together.

"How come you're not with Sara?" Magnus asked. "I thought you were going out today."

Cheyenne puffed her cheeks in annoyance. "We _were_ , but Sara is too busy making kissy faces with Helen." She crossed her arms with a huff. "Love is stupid."

Magnus couldn't help but giggle. "Yeah, it is."

Magnus wasn't sure what made him say it, maybe it was that he didn't want to stay inside today, even though you had drag him away from Netflix by the ear normally. "Do you want to go out with me since your sister won't take you? You're already dressed up anyway, so I just need to get shoes and we can head out."

A huge smile spread across Cheyenne's face and Magnus felt good just by seeing the little girl so happy. She jumped up fast and span around in her dress. Magnus knew she called it her princess dress even though it was just a sundress with a long pale blue skirt and a top that looked like a rainbow (Alex approved of that).

Cheyenne quickly run out of the room to go tell her sister she was going out and Magnus went to get his shoes. Not that long after, Magnus was standing by the door with an excited Cheyenne holding his hand so she wouldn't get lost. They were about to leave the room when Magnus heard a "Wait!"

He turned around to see Alex running up to him in a pink crop top and shorts. For some reason, Magnus felt like he couldn't look at her much and looked down at Cheyenne. _Wow, it must be hot outside,_ he thought when he noticed a burning at his cheeks.

"I saw you were leaving so I wanted to head out together," Alex explained as they left Perthro's building and stepped outside in the hot summer weather. Perthro was suited in a relatively calm part of London with a lot of families leaving close by. The building Magnus had come to think of as home during summer was old, the kind of place you'd expect a ghost or Sherlock Holmes to live in. It was painted a light yellow and looked small from the outside. You wouldn't expect it'd be able to house so many children but it was much larger on the inside. The building was invisible to Muggles like many of the wizarding building in London.

"You look really pretty," Cheyenne told Alex. "Don't you think so too, Magnus?"

There was that burning to his cheeks again. "Uh, yeah, you look really good."

Alex smiled. "Thanks." They must have passed through a very sunny spot because Magnus felt his cheeks burn more. "Oh, this is where I leave you," Alex said when they reached a corner. She turned left while Magnus and Cheyenne kept going.

Cheyenne let go of his hand when they weren't crossing a street so she could skip from one tile of the sidewalk to the next. Magnus watched her amused as she did her best not to step on any of the cracks.

They soon reached the park. Families were taking a walk together and elderly enjoyed the nice weather. The air was buzzing with children's laughing from the playground and Cheyenne immediately dragged him there. She paid little notice to Magnus telling her to be careful and quickly run for the monkey bars.

For the most part, Magnus sat to the side with the other parents as Cheyenne played, with exception when she dragged him with her so he could go through the little tunnel that led to the slide and get stuck in it. Magnus was happy Alex wasn't around to see that because he'd rather forget that incident happened.

Once Magnus was successfully unstuck for the playground equipment, Cheyenne asked him if he could push her on the swings. Magnus accepted readily. Getting on a swing had been a bit difficult as there were too few swings and too many children. When one finally emptied, Cheyenne all but pounced on it and Magnus feared for the lives of those poor children that might have tried to take the swing away from her.

So he pushed and he pushed and Cheyenne went higher and higher, singing "I believe I can fly!"

It was only hours later, with sunburned cheeks and ice-cream cones in hand that they headed back to Perthro. Cheyenne ate her cookie-and-cream ice-cream with a dedication Magnus wished he had for his homework.

"This was amazing, Magnus!" she said when they were nearing the large yellow house. "I had a great time! To thank you, I decided to offer you my super advice!"

Magnus held back a little laugh at the smug grin on the girl's face but went along with it. "And what would that advice be, oh great one?"

"I will help you win back Alex's heart!" she declared with the biggest smile possible of her little body.

Magnus' ears burned and he spluttered. "Wh-what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you love her, don't you?" she asked like someone was questioning her about something as basic as the earth being round or two plus two equaling four.

Magnus's face burned even hotter and it had nothing to do with the heat. "Wh-what in the world gave you that idea?"

Cheyenne shrugged (a gesture she had probably learned from her sister). "Well, I've always heard that love makes you want to be around the other person all the time and you and Alex are always together and I've heard that you blush a lot around the person you like and you're always red around her. I thought the reason you were so grumpy lately was because someone else was dating Alex."

"I-I-I don't like Alex. N-not like that!" Magnus protested and oh god, why was he stuttering? It's not like he actually likes Alex- he likes her as a friend, but he doesn't have a crush on her, obviously. He was just surprise by what Cheyenne was saying, of course, that's why he was stuttering so much.

Cheyenne pouted. "Are you sure?"

Magnus almost screamed. "Yes!"

The answer didn't seem to satisfy the little girl. "Okay," she said quietly. "Sorry for assuming."

Magnus unlocked the door (they all had a set of keys) and Cheyenne went to find her sister so she could tell her about her time at the park. Magnus didn't even bother going to the kitchen for a glass of water even though he was super thirsty and instead went straight to the room he shared with a couple other boys. He lay in bed and read his new book to distract himself.

The window was open and a gentle breeze was blowing through it but Magnus couldn't focus on the writing on the page. The words danced and moved and every line he read was in through one ear and out the other. He just couldn't stop thinking about what Cheyenne had said.

He didn't have a crush on Alex.

Did he?

/

The rest of summer break was pretty great. They hang out and had fun, even if Magnus was always salty every time Alex had a date. Or at least that's what the other kids at Perthro said.

He wasn't salty.

But now summer was long over and they were back at Hogwarts. This was their sixth year for all of them save for Halfborn, who was in his final year. It was weird to think that next September they would get on the Hogwarts Express and he wouldn't be there.

So here they were, on their first breakfast as sixth years and Alex and Conall were already being gross. Alex had been the first one to get to breakfast and Magnus was praying to whatever got existed out there that she doesn't tell Conall to sit with them. Or maybe that he'll want to catch up with some of his other friends.

But he came into the Hall of the Slain, made a beeline for Alex and bend down to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Morning, beautiful," he said and Magnus wanted to gag. He stabbed another one of his eggs and took a bite as Alex craned her neck back to give Conall a good morning kiss. Ugh.

"You can sit here today," Alex tells him in the voice Magnus has come to recognize as her lovey dovey voice. As in, the voice she has after every single time they kiss. It's not exactly annoying, it's just…. Just.

Alex scouted over and Conall took an extra chair form a nearby table to sit next to her, much closer than was probably necessary. How were they even supposed to cut their food if they were so close? Their elbows would hit every time they tried to move.

And they did. Every time one of them tried to cut a fried egg of reach out for an extra piece of toast their arms would hit. And every single time they would giggle and give each other a little kiss and whAt KIND OF NIGHTMARE WAS MAGNUS SUBJECETED TO?

Why was no one else paying attention to this? Were they all blind? Did they not see how ridiculously lovey dovey Alex and Conall were being? Magnus felt like he would throw up any moment now and no one was paying attention to the cause of his hardship.

The closest thing he got to anyone acknowledging how disgustingly sweet Alex and Conall were being was a sly look from Halfborn. It won him a hit in the shin under the table.

"So did you hear about that big announcement?" Mallory asked. She causally reached out and took a croissant from Halfborn's plate and Halfborn didn't react at all.

Their relationship – because they were together now- was nothing like Alex and Conall's. They acted so casual about it all that you wouldn't even realize they were dating if you didn't know them or if you weren't very observant. They acted just as they did before and still teased each other and joked but they always stood just a bit too close, their hands brushed a little too much when they weren't interlocked and they looked at each other for a moment too long. They had this natural air around them like they had always been this close and it was nothing new.

"What announcement?" Magnus asked.

Mallory rolled her eyes. "Of course you didn't hear. The school is doing an exchange program with some students from Ilvermorny. They should be arriving today, but I don't remember how many they said will come for each year."

It was at that moment that the doors opened dramatically as if on cue. Like this was a movie or something. A group of students walked in, all of them wearing the plain black robes first years wore before they were sorted. But they weren't first years, none of them. The youngest must have been a fourth year.

Professor Sif accompanied the students on the little stage in front of the teacher's table they used for announcements. "Good morning. May I have your attention for a moment?" she said as she stood in the center of the stage, the Ilvermorny students standing behind her.

The murmur in the Hall of the Slain calmed down, if only barely, and Professor Sif continued talking. "As you may have heard, since it's impossible to keep secrets in this school, we will have the honor of having a group of transfer students from Ilvermorny here with us this year. I hope you will treat them well and show them what a great school Hogwarts is." She stepped to the side as Professor Thor brought out the little stool and the Sorting Hat. "Now, let's move on to our new students' Sorting!"

One by one, Professor Sif called out the Ilvermorny students, starting from the youngest. After each one was sorted, they were handed a tie in the colors of their house.

Magnus knew that everyone's eyes were trained on the American kids, and his were too, but on one specific one. A fit girl with tan skin, curly blonde hair in a ponytail and startling grey eyes that was standing with what must be the sixth year students. There was something about her that seemed strangely familiar but Magnus couldn't place it. Maybe she looked like someone he knew?

"Chase, Annabeth!" Professor Sif calls out and the girl steps forward.

Magnus was thankful he wasn't drinking something when she said that name because otherwise he would have choked. Annabeth, did she really say Annabeth? He heard right, didn't he? Annabeth was here. She was at Hogwarts.

Magnus hadn't seen her ever since he was six, maybe seven. He and his mother had moved to England for the US when Magnus was young and Magnus had never gotten the full story. He knew it had something to do with his mother being a Squib and who his father was but nothing more than that.

Annabeth was sorted into Ravenclaw and went to stand by the other students that had been sorted. Magnus couldn't stop staring at her, trying to figure out how his young cousin who made temples out of dominoes had grown into the girl standing in front of him. He could find the similarities, as faint as they were after almost ten years. She had the same hair, the same nose, the same look in her eyes like she knew everything about how the world worked.

And those eyes were looking straight at him.

It took a bit more time for all of them to get placed in a house and once they did, Professor Sif told them that they're free to go and find a seat anywhere in the Hall of the Slain. Annabeth made a beeline for him, a black haired boy wearing the Gryffindor trailing behind her. Her eyes were locked on him like she was a homing missile flying right at her target and Magnus had the sudden urge to hide under the table.

"Magnus?" She asked once she reached their table. "Is your name Magnus Chase?" she asked again and Magnus didn't understand why she looked as if she had just seen a ghost.

"Um, yeah. Hi, Annabeth," he said and did an awkward little hand wave because he's stupid like that.

"Oh my God, Magnus!" She threw herself at him and hugged him. Magnus wasn't sure why she was hugging him or why she was doing it so hard he would probably have bruised ribs afterwards. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged back as naturally as he could but this was a pretty bizarre meeting.

"I thought you were dead, you idiot!" she said when she finally let him go. She held him by the shoulders at arm's length and looked at him as if she had never seen him before- and she might as well have never seen him since the last time they met Magnus still played with lego and slept with a night-light.

"What? Why? Wh-?" Magnus bubbled out. He was so confused and happy at the same time for seeing Annabeth that he didn't know what questions he had to ask.

"They informed us of your mom's death," Annabeth explained. "But they couldn't find you and they assumed you had died at the fire too." She made a half-strangled sob and Magnus was afraid she would start crying in the middle of the Hall of the Slain.

"I've spent two years thinking you were dead! Why didn't you let us know you were alive?" There was something in her voice bordering between 'I want to hug you so much' and 'I will strangle you' and Magnus didn't know how to react.

"I'm sorry," Magnus said because really, what was he supposed to say? He was sorry he made her mourn his death when he was alive but truth is it just didn't cross his mind to contact his relatives. His mum had always acted as if they had none and when she did acknowledge them she told Magnus not to contact them.

"You know, I should be more angry at you right now but I'm just happy you're here." She gives him another hug before she steps away and finally seems to notice the people that had been watching her all this time.

"Hello," she said as if reuniting with your supposedly dead cousin is the typical first meeting. "I'm Annabeth Chase, Magnus' cousin."

"It's nice to meet you," Sam said, always the polite one. She was practically the only one who wasn't gawking at Annabeth. She offered her hand to the blonde girl and she took it. "I'm Samirah al-Abbas, but you can call me Sam."

"I'm T.J." The Ravenclaw boy was quick to introduce himself and offered a smile to Magnus' female counterpart. "I didn't know Magnus had a cousin, but I'm happy to meet you."

"What does T.J stand for?" the black haired boy asked. His hair was a _mess_ (and Magnus thought his hair was hard to deal with) and his eyes were sea-green.

"Thomas Jefferson Jr."

The boy's eyes widened just a bit as if he had just realized something and he grinned. He moved his head from side to side like he was hearing a song and Magnus was pretty sure he heard him sing "So what did I miss?" under his breath.

Of course, the whole table looked at him weirdly and Annabeth quickly explained, but not before rolling her eyes. "One of our friends showed him the soundtrack of Hamilton and he remembered one of the songs. Forgive my boyfriend, he's a dork." She sent the boy – her boyfriend, as it turned out- a glare and he smiled at her sheepishly.

"I'm your dork," he said with a shit-eating smirk.

"Yeah, you are. I make bad choices sometimes."

Magnus and the rest of his friend at the table chuckled at Annabeth's quick response and just how hurt the boy looked.

"You wound me," he said in an overly dramatic voice. He wasn't able to keep up the act for long and he broke into laugher soon. Annabeth smiled at him affectionately before turning back to Magnus.

"Sorry, I forgot to introduce you. This is Percy Jackson," she said, gesturing to the boy.

"It's nice to meet you," he told Magnus with a smile. "I've never meet a dead person before."

Magnus smiled back. "I've never been dead either."

"Why don't you sit with us? I'm Mallory, by the way, and this idiot is my boyfriend Halfborn."

"Halfborn?" The two Americans said together. They seemed as embarrassed about it as Magnus thought it was funny.

"It's a nickname. Long story."

"I'm Conall," the Ravenclaw introduced himself and offered his hand to the new people at their table. His other hand was squeezed between his body and Alex's and their fingers were interlocked. "Nice meeting you."

"I'm Alex," the green haired girl said simply. "So you've heard Hamilton? What's your favorite song?"

Percy's eyes shone at the prospect of talking about something he liked (Magnus could relate). Annabeth sighed in 'here we go again' kind of way.

"Okay, where do I start? I love 'Alexander Hamilton' and 'My shot' and Burr's songs like 'Wait for it' and 'The room where it happens' are amazing and don't get me started on 'Guns and Ships' and…"

For the rest ofbreakfast before they had to leave for class, Magnus and the crew were treated to Percy and Alex fangirling over the musical and bursting into Alex could rap pretty well. What do youknow.

* * *

 **You all knew I had to write Percy and Annabeth in here somehow ;)  
**

 **And yes, I have to shoehorn my current obsession into whatever I write, I can't help it (Alex was rapping Guns and Ships, btw)**

 **Oh, and since my exams are almost over (I only have another three lessons to give) updates will (hopefully) be faster now! Until next time! *Wait For It plays at top volume***


	12. This story's been reduced to fart jokes

**I am free! FREE!**

 **That means my exams are over. SUMMER! Anyway, in case this chapter reads weird please know that I had to write it during that part of the exams when my writing block was terrible.**

* * *

Having the Ilvermorny students at Hogwarts reminded Magnus a lot of the fourth year when Alex was still the new kid. Most of their free time was devoted to showing Percy and Annabeth around the castle and exploring every knock and cranny. Both Americans were very into it, for their own reasons. Annabeth was very interested in the architecture of the castle and how everything worked. She especially loved the sifting staircases and Magnus noticed her making a note in her notebook. When he walked by her and sneaked a glance to see what it was, the note turned out to be a reminder to herself to ask about the spell cast on the stairs.

Percy on the other hand was really into all the secret passages and rooms the school had to offer. He seemed set in pushing every single brick in the wall to see if any of them opened hidden corridors, especially after they told him that even the Headmaster himself didn't know everything about Hogwarts.

"We better keep an eye on him," Sam whispered to Magnus and he nodded back. There was a reason why first years weren't allowed to go to a lot of parts of the castle; when you were new to Hogwarts it was amazingly easy to get lost with how vast the castle is. They didn't want new students to get hurt somewhere where it would be hard to find them.

They were turning down another corridor and Alex kept talking as she was giving them the grand tour. She was really enjoying this, maybe as much as she had when she was the one being shown around Hogwarts. Telling Percy and Annabeth everything she knew about the castle made her feel strangely proud. She was no longer the new student, she was a sixth year Slytherin. She had made this school her home, she belonged here, and she was going to show these two what made it so great.

"And this is the armor of Sir Reinhart of Baltimore, who died from a humongous dump after eating his mother-in-law's cooking," Alex said as she gestured at a random armor. From the corner of her eye she saw Magnus look at her in a 'I see what you did there' way and she smirked back at him. This wasn't the same armor Magnus had showed her in her fourth year (she wasn't even sure how to get back to that corridor) but the joke he had made back then was too good to pass up.

"That must have hurt," Percy winced, looking at the inanimate knight with sympathetic eyes. "And what about this one?" He pointed at another suit of armor further down the corridor that was holding a big axe. "Did he die a tragic death too?"

"Oh, this guy?" Alex said, hooking her arm around the armor's waist. "This is Sergey and he fought bravely at a war only to die when he tripped and fell in a puddle of mud in which he drowned."

The rest of their group chuckled at Alex's random story, some exchanging glances wondering what exactly even gave her the idea for such a scenario. They didn't pay much attention to the fact you probably couldn't drown in a puddle of mud because they were too busy giggling over the name 'Sergey'.

"Remind me to mention that name to Nico the next time he brings up his card game," Percy told Annabeth who rolled her eyes at him.

"You know he will probably kill you, right?"

"Maybe, but it will be worth it. And at the very least Will will use it as a name for his knights." The thought must have been very funny to Percy because he started chuckling again. Why exactly, Alex didn't know, but she didn't bother asking.

"Do they play Knights and Demons?" Magnus asked Percy with an excited glint in his eyes. Alex mentally rolled her eyes. Magnus was instantly all over anything nerdy and it was kind of adorable.

"Mm? Yeah. Nico was _really_ into it when he was younger." From the way Percy spoke to him, he guessed whoever Nico was he was very close to him. His tone reminded Magnus of how Mallory would speak about her siblings and cousins. "He pretends he's grown out of it but he still plays, especially since his boyfriend is into it as well. I thought he'd appreciate a new name for one of his knights."

"I'm still saying he's going to kill you for it," Annabeth said with a smile. Something in the way she smiled told Magnus that a part of her wanted to see what would happen if Percy did suggest the name.

Alex stopped them in front of a painting, doing a sharp turn on her heels to stand in front of it and face her crowd. The painting behind her was done in oil paints and it showed a man and a woman embracing underneath the bed sheets.

"Here we see another beautiful piece of art hailing from the 17th century," she said in her best tour-guide ascent (which pretty much meant that she made herself sound like an old man who smoked three packs of cigarettes a day). "It depicts the passionate embrace of two lovers in their secret meeting. You see, Miss Abigail Birdwhistle was married at a rich merchant at the time this painting was created. Yet her husband was more loving towards his job than his wife and cast aside as she was, poor Abigail found comfort in the arms of their gardener, Brian. This painting shows one of their many sexual meetings at the small hut Brian lived in on their estates grounds."

Much like a teacher who kept going on even when his students paid no attention to him whatsoever, Alex kept talking even when her friends and boyfriend were barely holding themselves from laughing. How did she even manage to keep that ridiculous ascent going for so long?

"However," Alex kept going, "I would like to point your attention to this part over here." She pointed to the back of the painting, where a figure was visible. "Many have claimed that this is Abigail's husband who happened to stumble upon the meeting. Even if he is, whether he's there to ruin their fun or join in on it is still a bone of contention among art critics. Regardless, what they do agree on is that Abigail and Brian were a beautiful love story."

That seemed to be the last straw as all of them burst out laughing together, Alex included. Mallory was swaying from side to side and Magnus had bent over as their laugher boomed across the empty halls and it sounded as loud as a thunderstorm.

The occupants of the painting said nothing and stood still, as if they were from a Muggle painting and listened to the stories the weird green haired one made up about them. It took everything in their painted bodies not to start laughing too.

Once they finally stopped laughing and remembered how to breathe properly, they kept moving down the hallway. What they saw was pretty much still the same, armors proudly standing guard and paintings hanging from the walls. But they decided to make up another game where they tried to mimic whatever a specific painting they passed by depicted. They never set down the rules about what it would take to win, but it didn't seem to matter. With every new painting they acted more and more over the top.

At one point, they passed a painting where a warrior was raising another man in the air while letting out a battle cry. Halfborn had grabbed Mallory by the waist and held her up, doing a gorilla scream. It was funny, especially with Mallory's startled expression. Conall tried to do the same but failed miserably (the boy was a scholar, not a wrestler). Alex had managed to hold him up for a little but eventually her arms gave out and she had to put him down.

"Won't you give me a kiss for holding you up?" she asked and Conall was quick to comply, whispering something along the lines of "my warrior" to her. Magnus had to look away to keep himself from vomiting.

What they hadn't been expecting was for Annabeth to put her hands at Percy's wait and _just raise him up like it was nothing_. Everyone gawked at her, especially when it seemed like she wasn't struggling at all with it. Percy appeared calm too, holding his chin up and throwing his arms wide open like he was in the Titanic.

"I'm flying, Jack!" he said in a lovesick high-voice and they all laughed at that.

They started dancing in front of a painting of a ballroom, at first doing a really bad imitation of waltz before they started doing whatever random dance move they could think of, from the Macarena to freaking _dab._ Magnus, T.J and Sam had linked hands to create a wave and Alex was leading Conall in a very over the top tango. (Magnus had to admit it was funny but it still left a sour taste in his mouth for some reason.)

After about a dozen of paintings and getting spotted by students who looked at them as if they were on crack, the group decided the better start heading to the Hall of the Slain for dinner.

"Hey, isn't tomorrow the day we'll go visit Hogsmeade?" Percy asked when they passed by a group of fourth year girls who were talking about what they would do tomorrow.

"Oh, yeah! I really want to visit it, I've heard a lot of things about it!" Annabeth's eyes glittered at the thought of getting to go to a new place and learning about it. They more time he spend with her the more Magnus realized his cousin still had the same thirst for knowledge she had when she was young.

Alex's eyes, on the other hand, glittered a in mischief as she thought of all the things they could do tomorrow at Hogsmeade. "We'll give you the premium tour, don't worry," she said with a smirk and amidst the weird loopy thing his stomach did at the sight, Magnus had time to think only one thing.

 _Oh oh._

* * *

And 'Oh oh' indeed. Why, you ask? There's a lot that can go wrong when you have nine teenagers left to their own devices in a village. They were lucky they didn't burn it down (though they might have scared a little girl for life).

When they stepped into Hogsmeade, Percy and Annabeth had the expression every student has on their first visit - wide-eyed awe and glee at all the possible places to explore and have fun in.

"I feel like I look like one of those stupid tourists in New York but I don't care," Percy whispered to Annabeth as he looked around. Or maybe he was meaning to whisper it and forgot because everyone heard him

Their first stop was obviously the Joke shop. They had headed there immediately after they arrived at Hogsmeade so the crowd of students that was always around the entrance every time they visited hadn't fully formed yet. They walked into the shop, easily making it feel more crowded by the size of their group.

They walked around the aisles, looking at different pranks and touching them. Magnus knew that just touching a magical prank that did God-knows-what wasn't such a good idea but he couldn't help himself. The Joke shop just did _something_ to him that made him want to touch everything (yes, even that weird green mass in a jar).

When he turned down another corner, he found Alex, Halfborn and T.J grouped around the fart pillows. They each held one between their palms and they stood with determination as if they were about to have an epic rap battle.

Then Alex pressed her palms together, making the little pillow fart. She did it again and again and Magnus realized surprised that she was farting Darth Vader's theme (that sounded wrong).

"Let's see if you can do that," he said with a smirk to Halfborn.

"Oh, you're on." Magnus was somehow able to get most of the melody down, only missing a few notes (farts?) here and there.

"Puh-lease," Percy said after Halfborn was done with his recital. "Watch this."

What followed were intricate hand moves and twists along with the fanciest farts Magnus had ever heard. Percy's tongue stuck out from the corner of his mouth in concentration and by now the rest of their group had gathered around to watch as well as some other students.

When Percy finished, he took a deep bow and sent Alex a completive look.

"Was… was that Beethoven's ninth Symphony?" She asked, sounding equally confused and awed.

"Yep. A friend showed me how. Nobody beats Leo in musical farting."

Magnus turned to Annabeth who was standing next to him, his expression practically yelling 'what'. She had a smile on her face that just barely pulled at the corners of her mouth. Yet, even though it was small, it radiated warmth and happiness and turned her eyes from stormy grey to a cloudy sky just before the sun broke through.

Whatever comment Magnus might have had about the recital never made it past his lips. He remembered how his mum used to say that loving someone was like spending a day outside during the summer. It might be hot and the heat and mosquitoes might be annoying at times, but you still enjoyed bathing in the sun.

The way Annabeth looked at Percy, it looked like she really enjoyed it.

"Okay, I think you showcased your musical talents enough today," Mallory said as she cut through the little crowd that had gathered around the 'musicians' to get to Halfborn. She took him by the arm. "Why don't we go look over there?"

Alex's boyfriend soon came by too and he and Alex wandered off in the store together. Magnus felt a weird bitterness in his throat but he kept moving through the store. He played around with the samples, which, again, he knew wasn't such a good idea but it was fun. (So what if he had gotten glitter thrown at his face? He looked good in it.)

He stumbled up Conall and Alex at the optical illusions aisle. A large mirror hang over the wall above a series of accessories that gave you weird features, like real life snapchat filters. He browsed through the samples and watched the couple from the corner of his eye as they tried on glasses that made moustaches grow on their faces and bowties that gave them cute dog ears. Conall leaned closer and woofed before fake licking Alex's face. She giggled and pushed him away but barked too.

Magnus turned away and decided to check something else out. He wasn't feeling like optical illusions at the moment.

He lingered around near the cheap tricks at the front near the register until the others were ready to leave. Percy and Annabeth had bought a few items, thought Magnus didn't know what. When Magnus sent his cousin a questioning glance, she replied with, "Gifts for friends back home. They _love_ pranks. Maybe it's a bad idea to get Leo and Piper prank materials, but at least they won't use them on us."

Magnus nodded, thought he made a mental not to ask Annabeth about her friends from Ilvermorny later. They sounded interesting.

They decided to try a different variation of the game they had played back in fourth year. They headed to Blitzen's Best, where each person would have to pick an outfit for their significant other. Since Sam's wasn't here and they had an odd number of people, she would be the referee. Magnus and T.J ended up playing together because they were the Forever Alone members of the group.

They stood near the entrance of the store but not directly in it because, you know, they didn't want to be gits and annoy the other customers. "Alright," said Sam, her hands on her waist. "Since you all know what you have to do, let's start. Get set,"

All members of the group turned their backs to Sam so they could face the inside of the store, theirs eyes scanning over all the racks to see where everything was.

"Ready,"

They got into position, one leg in front of the other and their weight leaning slightly forward. Magnus glanced out of the corner of his eye at his friends. They all looked ahead with determined expressions that would have lead you to believe they were about to partake in an important race rather than a dumb game. Thought they did have only thirty minutes to go around the store and find the perfect outfit, so he couldn't blame them for wanting to be fast.

"GO!"

The group of teenagers rushed forward and run into the rows of clothing stands, racks and mannequins. Magnus barely didn't hit a lady that was looking at a cute yellow skirt, managing to steer clear from her in the last minute. He looked around frantically, trying to see where the kind of clothes he wanted were suited. When he found them, he run to them like the Flash and started going through them. Part of him wanted to just through them around as he searched for what he wanted, but he felt sorry for the poor employee who would have to clean up after him.

Putting everything he took out back in its place cost him quite a bit of time and he had but a minute to get the final piece of his outfit. Dashing back to where he had almost hit the lady, he grabbed the skirt and headed for the dressing rooms.

He was the last one to arrive. Everyone else had exchanged clothes and were waiting for him to arrive before they changed into them.

"Here," Magnus said as he handed T.J his outfit. He took his own lump of clothes from T.J's arms and after Sam's command, they all went into their respective changing rooms.

After fumbling with the clothes for a good ten minutes and at least a dozen "How are you supposed to put this on?" exclamations, they were finally dressed.

"All ready to be in the spotlight?" Sam asked, doing her best to sound like a TV game host. It was pretty bad but funny at the same time.

"Yes!" was the unanimous answer from the group.

"Alright. Come out, then!"

Eight curtains were simultaneously drawn back and the three couples and two Forever Alone boys came out. Some, like Alex, T.J and Percy, stroked up poses to look like models and others, like Magnus, looked very awkward in their new clothes.

Percy was wearing a short jean skirt that reached his mid thigh and bright pink flip-flops with seashells on them. His shirt was ocean green like his eyes, with two purple shells at his chest. When he posed again, Magnus saw that 'Mermaid off-duty' was written across his back in black letters. A shiny pink purse that had to be very impractical with how small it was hang from his shoulder and a pair of sunglasses rested in his dark hair. Percy seemed quite comfortable in the look, even though the arm holes in his shirt were so big they showed his chest.

Annabeth was dressed… relatively normal, weirdly enough. She wore a flowy white summer dress with silver sandals and a big straw hat with a sunflower on it. A long pendant with a little clock hang from her neck. The look wasn't without its random touches though, as she also wore a rainbow colored choker with a daisy charm hanging from it, heart glasses that had stayed behind from Halloween and colorful socks inside of her sandals.

Halfborn wore one of those leotards that looked like shirts. The laces that strung together the deep V-cut at the front were so stretched they might as well have not been there. He wore frayed short shorts over it that were so small on him he couldn't zip it all the way up. A flowery shawl was draped over his shoulders and he looked at the group with a sultry look that was more hilarious than seductive.

Mallory was dressed in her worst nightmare. Every color in her clothes was obnoxiously bright, borderline neon, and they all clashed horribly. Her sweatpants had "Work" written in the back in bold black letters, her shirt was something only a grandma or someone with the fashion style of a grandma would wear. She had a bunch of different necklaces around her neck like a nineties rapper.

Conall emerged from the dressing room in a long, lace appliqué midnight blue dress that reached his knees. It puffed out at his waist and made him look slimmer than he actually was. He was struggling to stay standing in a pair of red six inch pumps and a necklace of giant pearls rested on his collarbones. Magnus wasn't even sure if pearls could be that big.

Alex stood next to her boyfriend in a green crop-top that had a little monster, though whether it was an actual crop-top or just from the children's section he didn't know. She wore a pair of tight black jeans and Magnus had never noticed quite how lean her legs were, clearly fit from Quidditch but they still had some curves and the high-waist jeans made them look so long and they hugged her form in a way Magnus didn't know clothes could and she looked really good in them, especially her as—

Maybe he should look elsewhere.

T.J wore the lacy yellow skirt Magnus gave him, the white blouse tucked in. Underneath the fabric of his top you could see the bright magneta of a sports bra Magnus had picked out clear as day. A bow hairclip was barely holding on to T.J's short hair and his legs were covered by cat stockings. He seemed to be quite enjoying the look.

And, weirdly enough, Magnus looked… normal. Not like Annabeth, were the main elements of her outfit were ordinary and the accessories made her look like something out of a carnival. He might not have picked out these clothes on his own but they weren't weird and they suited him.

A pair of jeans as tight as Alex's hugged his legs and he had to admit he looked good in them. He wore simple black shoes and a plain black button-up. The clothes had come with a message to slick back his hair, so for once he didn't have blonde locks in his eyes.

"I think I look fabulous," T.J said and examined his stockings in the mirror. "These are pretty comfy, you know."

"It's breezy, but nice," Conall as he moved his hips around to feel the fabric of his skirt shift against his thighs.

"And you look great in it," Alex added and kissed him on the cheek. Magnus quickly turned his eyes elsewhere. ('Elsewhere' being a stolen glance at Alex's legs.) (Alex had nice legs.) (Why was he thinking about Alex's legs? Stop it.)

Too busy trying to convince himself that he hadn't been checking out Alex, Magnus didn't notice the knowing look Annabeth was sending his way.

"Oh, by the way," Alex said, "it's he/ him now."

"I feel like Ariel," Percy noted as he turned around to look at himself in the mirror.

"You better not start singing 'Part of your world'," Annabeth warned him in an affectionate tone that made Magnus thing that if Percy burst into song she would likely join him.

"I'm going to need a psychiatrist after this." Mallory was staring at her reflection in horror, hugging her body like a teenager in a horror movie (though her clothes were a horror movie all on their own).

Her boyfriend ignored her, simply throwing his shawl around his neck like a Hollywood starlet and made kissy faces at his reflection.

"This is strangely normal," Magnus said as he looked at his reflection. He felt weird saying this (well, more like thinking it) but he looked good.

Alex turned around to look at Magnus and the smile on his face momentary faltered. It happened so quickly you wouldn't have noticed if you weren't paying attention, but his eyes widened just a little bit when he looked at Magnus in his new outfit. It really suited him. Like, _really_ suited him.

"You look good," Alex said. He hoped his voice sounded normal enough. Damnit, what did his heart do just now?

"Black button-ups are a classic," T.J said with a smug smile. He, Annabeth and Sam were the only ones in the room that had noticed the look in Alex's eyes and the way his voice sounded just a little bit strained.

A handful of magical pictures later, the gang was back in normal clothes and exiting the shop. They didn't have much time before they had to leave for Hogwarts and since there was nothing else they wanted to do they decided to just wander around the village. Magnus was trailing at the end of the group, walking slower that the rest, when Annabeth fell behind and started walking next to him.

"You have pretty good taste," she said simply.

Magnus scrunched his eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

Annabeth grinned at him and gestured in front of them where the rest of their friends were walking. Magnus's eyes immediately landed on Alex. Annabeth sent him a knowing look and Magnus's cheeks burned when he realized what she was insinuating.

"I-I don't… what makes you think that- I don't, not like that, I-" he stammered out, cheeks bright red. He-he didn't _like_ like Alex. They were just friends. What if he was too flustered to look at him when he wore shorts and crop-tops in summer and had been gawking at his legs just moments earlier? What if Halfborn constantly joked that he was jealous that Conall was dating Alex? What if Annabeth wasn't the first person who had thought Magnus liked Alex?

What if his heart almost stopped when his eyes fell on Alex play fighting with Halfborn, flushed cheeks and ruffled hair, a beautiful smile on his face that made his eyes shine? What if Magnus wanted to reach out and smooth down Alex's hair and hold his hand and kiss him?

… Fuck.

"I think I like Alex," he said absentmindedly as he still looked at the green haired boy in front of him.

Annabeth couldn't help but smile at the helpless expression on Magnus's face. He had it bad.

Soon enough they were back at Hogwarts. The students started splitting up, heading to their own dormitories for the night. Mallory kissed Halfborn on the cheek as goodnight (which made the big oaf blush like a tomato) and Percy pecked Annabeth on the lips.

"Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" Alex said teasingly, a clear invitation for Conall to kiss him, but the Ravenclaw run off with a quick hug because "I forgot to do some homework". Alex stared at him leaving with a hurt expression and a pout on his lips.

It didn't last long because Sam and Mallory dragged him of quickly. Something Mallory said made him laugh as they walked away and Magnus hadn't realized he had been staring at him leaving until a young Gryffindor bumped into him.

He walked back to the Hufflepuff common room in a daze, Alex's laughter ringing in his ears and his heart beating fast because _I like Alex I like Alex I like Alex._

 _Fuck._

* * *

 **Ah, yes, he finally admitted it. And yes, T.J choose those clothes on purpose. Once a matchmaker, always a matchmaker ;)**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapters because BOI do I have things planned for you! :3**


	13. The joke becomes literal

**Normally, I would have posted this on Monday, but since I won't be able to I figured it's better early than late.**

 **Remember back in chapter 10 when I said that their sixth year is basically Magnus singing Treat you better? I couldn't control myself, sooo... yeah.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

For someone who had spent the night having an existential crisis, Magnus looked relatively normal when he walked into the Hall of the Slain. Sure, he yawned a bit too much and his eyes were bloodshot and tired but it was nothing that couldn't be explained by staying up late to do homework.

So despite what he told his friends, he hadn't stayed up late doing that Potions assignment he allegedly had forgot to start. (He had finished that already, thank you very much.) What he had been doing was lying in bed while the rest of his roommates snored away and trying to pinpoint exactly when his feelings for Alex had switched from merely platonic to something more.

He couldn't say it was when they first met. First off, that was horribly cliché. In hindsight though, he had to admit that he had found Alex pretty when they met on the Hogwarts express. That still didn't mean anything, because he had thought most of his friends were pretty or cute or something along those lines at some point. (He had attractive friends, okay?)

Everything else he could come up with, any other instance that might have been the moment when he fell for Alex, didn't seem to be right either. Even with something like their dance at last year's Halloween party didn't seem to cut it. Alex had freaking _French-dipped him_ and he couldn't think of that moment and go _yes, this is when I fell for him._

There wasn't just one moment, he realized as one of his roommates snored, rolled over and fell out of bed. He couldn't find the exact instance because there hadn't been one. It just happened progressively, naturally, his feelings just developed into something different.

And the thing was that he couldn't stop noticing it. It was like when you think you heard something when you were on your own in the house and suddenly every little creak sounds deafening. Now that Magnus had acknowledged his feelings, he couldn't seem to be able to ignore them.

He'd think about Alex's mischievous grin before he was about to pull a prank or the way he snorted a bit if he laughed too hard or how all the stupid shit he did could be very amusing and he'd feel like he was _dying._ His stomach did acrobatics, his heart felt like it had exploded inside his chest, his face heated up. Why did people like being in love when it made them feel like they had a bloody fatal disease?

And what was the best thing? Alex had a _boyfriend._ He was in a relationship and even if Magnus had the guts to tell him that he liked him and ask him out, he couldn't do it.

 _When did my life turn into a YA novel?_

He couldn't say anything, he decided. No matter how grossed out he might be with Alex and Conall's lovey-dovey behavior, they seemed happy and Magnus wouldn't do something as petty as sabotage his friend's joy because he had fallen for him. He had no right to do something like that.

 _And besides,_ he had thought hopefully, _it's probably a simple crush. It will go away soon._

That sounded like lying even to himself but he had no choice than believe it.

So this is where his late-night thoughts had led him to; sitting with his friends at breakfast and sleepily poking at his eggs. He busied himself with the little wobble the orange part of his fried egg did when he hit it instead of how nice Alex looked today.

He didn't even look different! He was normal, just normal Alex with soft-looking green hair that was ruffled in an endearing kind of way and captivating eyes and strong-looking arms and— _This_ is what Magnus meant by not being able to ignore his feelings.

Despite how good Magnus would say Alex looked today, the Slytherin boy didn't feel like that. His mind was stuck on Conall not kissing him yesterday after they came back from Hogsmeade. It seemed trivial when he put it like that and he felt a bit stupid for paying it that much attention. But the thing was that Conall seemed to have no qualms to kiss him earlier that day and that he had done something like that several other times as well. Most times, Conall was very sweet and affectionate, he took every opportunity to kiss Alex at least on the cheek. Yet some other times Alex could be flirting with him so hard and get nothing more than a hug out of him.

Maybe he was just in a bad mood? That wouldn't explain yesterday though. He had been with Conall the whole day and nothing bad had happened. No matter what kind of excuse Alex came up with to explain his boyfriend's behavior, nothing made sense. Nothing fit quite right and everything felt like exactly what they were- excuses.

What was more was that when he was going over everything that had happened yesterday, one of those things was that he switched to male and his mind would just not move on from that. Could it really be that Conall wasn't as affectionate just because he was male at the time?

He pushed the thought out of his mind and tried to focus on his breakfast. He shouldn't worry this much, Conall was a good kid, he shouldn't get this worked up just because he didn't get a simple kiss. It must have been a coincidence.

Alex's eyes landed on Magnus opposite him who looked tired. He said he had stayed up late doing an assignment for Potions and it showed. He was poking at his eggs like his mind was a thousand meters away and his hair was messier than usual- not that it wasn't messy on good days. Merlin knows that boy's hair does not behave and always looks just a little bit puffy. It was kind of endearing, honestly, and Alex always thought it was cute.

 _I wonder if Magnus would have acted like Conall if we were dating,_ he found himself thinking absentmindedly and immediately scolded himself. _What are you doing? Why are you thinking that? You have a boyfriend and it's not Magnus._

Still, Alex's eyes somehow found their way to Magnus's lips. _They look soft…_

"Anyway, since Halfborn's birthday is coming up, I thought we'd throw him a party!" Mallory said excitedly, snapping Alex out of his thoughts (thank Merlin for that). She was smiling widely, waving her hands around for emphasis even though she was holding a fork with food on it in one.

Halfborn, after he took a moment to admire his girlfriend, spoke. "You really don't have to do that, guys." Yes, the idea of a pasty sounded amazing, and normally he would be all over it, but he didn't want his friends to get in trouble for throwing him a party. (Where would they even throw it?)

"Bullshit," Mallory said simply. "This is your final year at Hogwarts, you deserve a birthday party and as your girlfriend I'll throw you one whether you want it or not." Mallory was waving the piece of sausage on her fork in front of his face and Halfborn gave into the fiery look his girlfriend was giving him.

"Alright, we can throw a party. But where will we do it? And when?"

"On your birthday, at eight, at…" Mallory trailed off, trying to come up with a place where they could have a party without anyone finding out.

"Oh, I know just the place!" T.J said. "It's in the left corridor of the seventh floor, opposite that tapestry of someone trying to teach trolls ballet."

"There's nothing there," Halfborn said. He passed by that tapestry (who would try to teach trolls ballet?) often and he didn't remember there being a door opposite it.

"There is if you know how to look for it," T.J said with a cheeky smile. "Mallory and I can go early to set things up. You just need to come and walk in front of the wall three times thinking 'I want to go to Halfborn's party'."

The Ravenclaw didn't stop getting questioning looks from his friends but it didn't seem to deter his happy mood. They decided to trust in what he said- after all, they lived in a magical castle with ghosts and talking portraits. Nothing was that far off the realm of possibility.

/

And it wasn't. The room was really there, just like T.J had said. On the third time Magnus walked past the spot on the wall T.J had specified a door appeared, simply fazing into existence like it had always been there.

"Okay, that's awesome," Percy said from behind him. Annabeth and him had offered to help Magnus carry snacks from the kitchens (the room couldn't make food, as T.J had told them). The green-eyed boy looked at the door in wonder and Magnus couldn't blame him; it was pretty cool.

Next to him, Annabeth was studying the door with a calculating eye. Ever the Ravenclaw, her curiosity about how the room worked was evident in her grey eyes. "I wonder if there's something like this in Ilvermorny," she muttered, more to herself than to either of them.

Inside, the room was a spacious living room with two L shaped couches forming a square around a coffee table. Balloons flew close to the ceiling and garlands adorned the walls. There was a small pile of presents at one corner and the rest of their group was already there.

"Put the food there and get ready, Halfborn is coming any minute now!" Mallory told them as she pointed at the coffee table. She was practically bouncing from her excitement and the moment they had put down all the food on the table she turned off the lights.

Halfborn found the room quickly enough. The door appeared on the wall again – or at least its outline, Magnus couldn't see clearly in the dark- and he opened it. The moment it was closed behind him the lights were back on and confetti cannons went off. Everyone was yelling "Surprise! Happy birthday!"

Even if technically it wasn't a surprise since he knew about the party but hey, the thought is what counts.

"The birthday boy is here!" Mallory announced loudly and run over to Halfborn to put a magical party hat on his head that said 'birthday boy'.

"Do I have to wear this?" he asked with a smile as he touched the hat experimentally.

"No hat, no kisses," Mallory said in deathly seriousness. "Now, let's get this part started!"

The room was filled with loud woops and yes's as Mallory put on some music from her magically modified phone.

"Happy birthday, big guy," Alex said as he punched Halfborn in the arm. "How does it feel being a year closer to being an old man?"

"Better than being a little shit," the giant of a boy shot back with a laugh. He got Alex under a headlock and ruffled his hair as the Slytherin tried to escape. Halfborn was having none of that kept Alex securely trapped under his armpit. "Smell the wrath, smell the wrath!"

Mallory and Conall laughed affectionately at their significant others along with the rest of the group. Once Halfborn decided he had had enough and let Alex – who now had a rat's nest as hair- go the rest came forward to wish him happy birthday. Their wishes ranged from polite, like Sam's and Annabeth's, to something a dudebro from a highschool flick would do, like T.J's and Magnus's.

And what better to start their party than icebreaker games? (Which they technically didn't need to do since they were already friends, but it was fun, so who cared?) They gathered around the coffee table and munched on all the junk food Magnus had managed to get from the kitchen (a task that wasn't so difficult given how much the house elves loved to help out). The first game they decided to play was two truths and one lie, which was… interesting to say the least. By the time they got bored of the game they were all high with sugar and had learned things about each other that they would rather not know (like, seriously, who likes eating blue food, Percy?)

A currently drunk on soda Mallory jumped up from her seat on Halfborn's lap and announced that they should dance. She didn't leave Halfborn much thought about it, dragging him up with her by the wrist.

"Woohoo!" she yelled as she threw her arms around Halfborn's neck (it's harder than it sounds with how tall he is). Magnus made a mental note to himself not to let Mallory near sugar again as he moved to the empty space of the room that they were using as a dance-floor.

Except he couldn't dance. Like, at all. That lead to him just awkwardly swaying to the music off to the side, neither confident enough in his abilities nor high enough on sugar to go and dance likes a proper human being.

"Oh, come on, cousin!" Annabeth said as she dragged him with her to dance. "Dance!"

"You can't dance either," Magnus said because… he had eyes, Annabeth couldn't dance that well either.

"Doesn't matter. We can still be the awkward nerds at a party together!" To prove her point she took both his wrists in her hands (wow, who knew his wrists were so small?) and started randomly moving around, not seeming to care at all about the beat. Magnus felt like a child pretending to waltz after watching a Disney movie (he may be guilty of doing that) but he had to admit it was fun.

Soon enough he was taking his own liberties with their dance, twirling his cousin around and somehow working in a dab in there just to be ironic. Percy joined their little circle too and he seemed to enjoy their goofy, over-the-top dancing as much as Magnus.

"Let's do a wave!" he said excitedly and that's just what they did. All of them ended up holding hands and trying to mimic a wave with varying degrees of success. Conall sucked at it, Magnus wasn't half bad and Percy freaking _owned_ it. Like, seriously, did he have no bones, how did he move his arms like that?

Their wave then somehow morphed into a conga line and they moved around the room like a little train, dancing the conga to 'Shape of you'. It would have been a lot of fun if Alex didn't happen to be walking _right behind him_. His hands were on Magnus's shoulders and he would bump into his back every time someone in the front of the line would stumble. Each time Alex would let out a small 'oof' and an airy laugh and Magnus would feel his heart dance the conga with them.

 _Stop crushing on Alex, stop crushing on Alex,_ he kept repeating to himself. _He has a boyfriend, it doesn't matter how nice his hands feel or how good his laugh sounds or how pretty his messy hair is._

Unknown to Magnus, Alex was having a similar reaction to him. Every time he bumped into the blonde his heart would beat just a little bit too loud and it left him baffled as to why. _Come on heart, why are you acting like that? And why does Magnus smell so nice?_

A smaller detail Alex would only notice when thinking back to the party but he never had quite the same reaction when Conall bumped into his back.

One song later they were back to dancing separately. Mallory and Halfborn were having fun trying to shove as many couple-y dance moves into their dance as possible and bursting out laughing with everyone. Sam was, surprisingly enough, beat-boxing to T.J who was trying, and failing, to pull of some break dance move. Magnus kept dancing with Annabeth and Percy and when Percy decided to twirl him out he saw Conall and Alex dancing.

It was more like they were dancing at each other rather than with each other. They stood close but they didn't really touch and there was a sense of awkwardness between them so thick you could cut it with a knife. Even so, Magnus and his dumb mind couldn't help but think back to last year's Halloween party and the dance he and Alex had shared. He felt a smile tug at his lips at the memory. They had acted so over-the-top it was ridiculous but so, _so_ much fun. Alex had even French-dipped him at one point and Magnus could remember marveling at how he was strong enough to hold him up.

If getting lost in the memories wasn't enough, Magnus was stupid enough to imagine the same dance in a world in which they dated. Alex lead him during their dance, giving him small smiles, and when he French-dipped him he leaned in closer and Magnus could feel his breath on his lips and then he—

 _Nope, nope, stop. Stop thinking about it Magnus, it's not gonna happen._ Alex was in a relationship and even if they broke up, Magnus felt bad wanting it to happen. _It's just a crush, just get over it._

"You like him, don't you?" Perry asked, bringing Magnus crashing back to the present. The taller boy had linked all their arms together and they were doing a weird shuffle-dance.

"What? No, no, why would you think that?" Magnus instantly denied the accusation and, to his defense, it would have sounded much more convincing if Magnus wasn't blushing redder than the Gryffindor banner and if his voice was an octave higher.

"Well, Annabeth told me," Percy started and twirled Annabeth around. "Plus, you're even more obvious than Nico and he completely ignored Will for a week because he couldn't get a word out around him."

"Who's Nico?"

"Percy's younger cousin," Annabeth explained when she twirled back and took Magnus's hand again.

"Okay, but even if I," Magnus dropped his voice so no one would hear what he was about to say (not that they had a chance to over the music), "like him, he has a boyfriend. I can't do something even if I was brave enough to make a move. So please don't bring it up again."

The couple frowned (huh, even their expressions were similar), probably with pity at Magnus's situation. Thankfully, they dropped the topic and started a random discussion about how Percy's younger cousin managed to get in a fight with a student in Ilvermorny, end up in the infirmary and get a crush on a student who was helping out there because he wanted to be a healer. According to Percy "Nico's idea of flirting was to get into as many fights as possible so he could talk to Will in the infirmary".

After they danced for a bit more until their legs felt way too sore, they sat back down on the two couches. It didn't take long before whatever conversation they were having was disrupted by T.J loudly asking "Who wants to play truth or dare?"

So, naturally, they ended up playing truth or dare. Eight teenagers on a sugar-rush and truth or dare shouldn't mix. Halfborn dared Percy to sing an 'I want' Disney song believing that the other boy would be too embarrassed or mess up a lot. The joke was on Halfborn because Percy sang a beautiful 'How far I'll go' from Moana.

"And it seems like it's calling after me so come fiiiiiind me! And let me knoooow, what's beyond that line, will I cross that line?" Percy had decided to jump onto the coffee table and pretend it was his boat as he held a bottle of soda instead of an oar. "The line where the sky meets the sea, it caaaaaaals me! And no one knoooows how far it goooes! If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behiiiiind me, someday I'll knooow how far I'll goooooooo!"

T.J was dared to chug down a full bottle of Coca Cola and quickly made the loudest burp Magnus had ever heard in his life. Mallory was made to sit on Halfborn's lap for three rounds by a smug T.J and the group learned that Conall slept with a nightlight until fifth grade. Sam was to put a pillow under her shirt and pretend to be Quasimodo (she slipped in some Disney songs too). Halfborn had to sit still as Mallory made him French-braid his hair.

"Magnus," Halfborn turned to him with an evil glint in his eye. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

A smug smile spread across Halfborn's face. "I dare you to sing 'Treat you better'."

Magnus's first thought about that was that it was way too easy for a dare that came from Halfborn. Normally the seventh-year would have him eat owl droppings or run around the school butt-naked – singing a song seemed pretty anticlimactic.

That thought was tossed out of the window when Magnus realized what the song was about and cursed internally. _Of course_ Halfborn would tease him about having a crush.

Knowing that there was no way to get out of it, Magnus got up with a heavy sigh and climbed up on the coffee table, which had apparently become their singing stage.

"I won't lie to you. I know he's just not right for you," Magnus starts singing, looking very much like a lifeless scarecrow than an actual person singing.

"Boo!" Halfborn yells from the couch. "If you're going to sing do it properly! With passion!"

Magnus sighed once more and picked up a bottle from the table to use as a microphone. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath to prepare himself for the singing he was about to do.

"I won't lie to you. I know he's just not right for you." This time Magnus sang like he was alone in the shower; loud, overly dramatic and far off key. It didn't seem to deter his audience that started cheering him on.

"And you can tell me if I'm off, but I see it on your face when you say that he's the one that you want."

Alex was more than ready to hear Magnus sing some weepy (if nice) pop song but it was when Magnus sang that particular line that it hit a bit too close to him. Conall came to his mind immediately along with all the doubts about his boyfriend that he had tried to shove down and forget.

He… liked Conall. He was fun to hang around with even if he could be a bit nervous at times. He liked kissing him too, it was nice, although there were much less fireworks than YA authors would have you believe, which made sense. Kissing Conall wasn't the end of the world but it wasn't bad either. It was…okay.

But there had obviously been an awkward air with their relationship lately and Alex wasn't sure if it just meant that had gotten out of the honeymoon stage or if there was something actually wrong with their relationship.

The kiss Alex had been expecting but never got came back to him along with every other time Conall had left him hanging, the overwhelming majority of them when Alex was a 'he'. Could Conall feel differently about him as a boy? Was he even attracted to boys?

Alex was brought out of his train of thought by Magnus's loud singing as he reached the chorus. By this point, they had all joined in with the blonde, singing the parts of the song that they all knew.

"I know I can treat you better. BETER THAN HE CAN!" As their whole group sang that line, heads thrown back to be more dramatic and huge dumb smiles on their faces, Alex's eyes fell on Mallory still sitting on Halfborn's lap. In a moment of inspiration, Alex moved to sit on Conall's lap as well. The boy halted in his singing in surprise but continued quickly, though much calmer.

It should have calmed Alex worries that Conall didn't seem awkward about his sitting on his lap, except it was wrong. Alex had sat on Conall's lap plenty of times, he knew Conall's response by heart. Conall would put his arms around his waist and give him a kiss, whether it was on the lips, the cheek or the neck didn't matter. Conall would do the same thing time and again without fail. He had done the same thing when they had breakfast before heading to Hogsmeade!

Yet now he didn't. Now his arms stayed by his side, he didn't pull him closer, he did nothing. He felt stiff underneath Alex, and not in the way you'd expect a young boy whose significant other was sitting on them to be stiff. He felt nervous, weird. Alex knew that even if he had sat on someone who was purely a friend, like Mallory or T.J or even Annabeth, they wouldn't have been this uncomfortable.

Unwilling to admit to himself that something was wrong, Alex allowed himself hope and leaned in to kiss Conall. He could taste the snacks they had eaten on his lips and smell the shampoo he used.

Alex's heart sank to his stomach. Conall had barely kissed back, even when Alex kissed more eagerly.

On top of the table, Magnus felt a sharp pain in his heart when he saw Alex kiss Conall, sitting comfortable in his lap. "Tell me why are we wasting time on all your wasted crying when you should be with me instead. I know I can treat you better, better than he can."

/

Always the stubborn one, Alex had kept on pretending nothing was wrong. Conall's cold demeanor hadn't changed and he still seemed stiff around her. Coincidently, Alex had a lot of male days lately and she couldn't stop herself from making the connection between the two things.

It had been a few days since Halfborn's party and Alex was female today. She arrived at the Hall of the Slain and found most of her friends already there. Her pink skirt (that probably went against school regulations) shifted against her legs as she walked to their table and sat down.

"Morning, guys. She/ her today," she greeted them. Maybe the skirt would had been enough to tell her gender but she had worn a skirt plenty of times when she was male too (some days you just couldn't wear pants).

Things went by normally, just friendly banter and T.J's story about a dream he had where a goldfish with a beard, an eye-patch and a captain's hat drove a steampunk submarine that flew. Conall didn't take long to come and he sat down with a happy greeting.

"Good morning! She and her?" he asked as he smiled at her.

"Yep!" Alex answered, praying she sounded natural. What happened next would prove or disprove her suspicions.

Then Conall leaned in and did what Alex had wanted him to do these past few days. He leaned closer and kissed Alex on the lips and it was natural and sweet and like every other time Conall had kissed her, if a bit stiff.

Alex kissed back and did her best to act like everything was normal, like her heart hadn't sank to the depths of her stomach when Conall kissed her like he always did.

Or, well, like he always did whenever Alex wasn't a boy.

She went through the rest of the day laughing and joking with her friends and holding hands with Conall. She ruffled Magnus's hair and whispered with Mallory at History of Magic and threw food at Halfborn at lunch.

Yet, needless to say, she felt horrible. The knowledge that Conall acted different around her when she was a 'he' made her feel like she worms in her stomach that constantly moved around and made her sick. She wanted to throw up and curl up in a ball under her blankets and never come out again.

Every time Conall kissed her, every time he did what she had wanted him to do these past days, she was reminded that he wouldn't do the same thing if Alex was a boy that day. The thought that he didn't like a part of her brought back memories of how Alex had felt when she was still living at with her parents and a part of her was something to be ashamed of.

This whole situation made her feel like a fourteen-year-old child again, kicked out of home because she wanted to be a girl sometimes. Vulnerable, alone, helpless. She shouldn't have been scared to comfort Conall about this, she should have been straightforward and blunt, but…

So this is how she ended up here, waiting outside a Transfiguration classroom. The lesson ended soon enough (thank Merlin or else she might have just left) and Magnus's blonde head walked out of the classroom. Alex swiftly dove into the sea of students and tugged at Magnus's sleeve. The Hufflepuff turned to her in surprise, jumping up a little in a kind of adorable fashion because he was startled. Alex pulled him with her as she walked down the corridor and took a left turn.

When they were finally in a quiet place that not a lot of people came by, Alex let him go. It must have been pretty obvious in her face how distraught she felt because Magnus went straight to the point.

"Alex? Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

Alex nodded and sighed deeply. Her arms were wrapped around her front as if she was hugging herself and the effect was rather jarring for Magnus. It made the otherwise brave and energetic girl look small and scared, uncertain. "Yes. I…need to talk to you about something important. A… about Conall."

* * *

 **Oh, BOI, the next chapter is going to be good! I'm going to give you a clue about what;s going to happen because I like torturing you *starts singing and dancing Kiss Kiss Fall in Love* Okay, wow, I'm not good at being subtle.**


	14. Kiss kiss fall in HELL

**Here it is, folks! Now, I assume you all understood what I was hinting at last chapter (I wasn't that subtle). Without further ado, let's go!**

 **P.S. I'm sorry in advance.**

* * *

"A…about Conall."

"Conall?" Magnus didn't quite understand what was happening, but simply seeing Alex like this had him worried. The way she was hugging herself, the way she stood, _bloody hell_ , just the _air_ she had about her right now reminded Magnus of himself two years ago. Frightened and miserable and without a clue of what he was supposed to do. The thought of Alex feeling like that didn't bode well with him.

Alex nodded, tightening her arms around herself. "Yes. It's…" Alex stopped talking immediately as a group of students turned the corner and walked by them. She followed them anxiously with her eyes as they passed by. Whatever she wanted to talk to him about, Magnus realized, she didn't want other people to hear.

"Come on, let's go somewhere quite," he said and tugged at her sleeve to get her to follow him. Under normal circumstances he would have taken by the hand but Alex looked like she would break apart if he wasn't careful.

He led Alex through the corridors and up the stairs until they were outside the Room of Requirement. He walked in front of the wall three times asking the room to give him a place where he could talk to Alex. Once the door appeared he opened it and walked inside. The room was simple with an old looking couch in front of a fireplace with a coffee table between them. It looked like part of the living room from Perthro.

"Come, sit down." Alex sat next to Magnus on the couch without a word. She played with the flayed edges of a blanket that was lying on the couch and Magnus waited. He really wanted to ask her what was wrong and have her explain but part of him was afraid of what he'd hear so he waited for her to speak first.

"Conall had been acting weird lately," Alex started. She wasn't looking at Magnus, focusing instead at the blanket she was still playing with. Magnus's mind immediately jumped to the worst possible scenarios. Conall and Alex had fought, Conall yelled at her, he said something that hurt her.

"He'd be really affectionate most days but other times he'd hardly hold my hand and…" Alex sighed in frustration and threw the edge of the blanket she had been playing with aside as if it would get rid of her problems. "I don't know, I felt stupid about paying it this much attention at first. It might have been a coincidence, right?" It seemed as if the irritation with which she had spoken the last two sentences disappeared when she made that question. The "right?" came out sounding like a little kid that had just learnt Santa Claus wasn't real and was desperately trying to convince themselves that he was even though they knew it was a lie.

"But the other day, when we went to Hogsmeade… things were fine at first, but after we got back and I asked him to kiss me he didn't do it." Magnus nodded and made a little 'mm' sound to show Alex he was paying attention. He remembered what Alex was talking about and he also remembered the pang of jealousy he had felt.

"It was weird and what he said then, about having to do homework he forgot, sounded like a bad excuse. Maybe I'm just overreacting, I thought, but…" Another deep sigh. Alex did that a lot as she spoke and every time she would run hand through her hair. It had turned into a mess, locks of green hair sticking up at odd angles. "He acted like that for the next few days too. It was like he was avoiding me. And I tried to figure out of something had happened for him to act like that, but…" Alex's voice dropped. If it wasn't for the silence in the room Magnus wouldn't have heard what she said next. "All I could come up with was that I was male at the time."

Magnus had to do a double take, not only to make sure he had heard in general but also to make sure he had heard right. "You think Conall acts different around you when you're a boy?" He asks, knowing he sounds redundant and internally cringing at his own words. "He doesn't seem like the type to do that."

He really didn't. Even with Magnus's jealousy towards the other boy for dating Alex he had to admit he wasn't a bad guy (then again Magnus was fine with everyone as long as they weren't gits). He didn't treat Alex different as a boy before they started dating, not as far as Magnus could remember.

"I know!" Alex snapped at him. It was the first time since they walked into the room that she had looked him in the eye. "I have experience with people who do what you didn't think they would!"

She lowered her eyes again and focused on the fabric of her school trousers. "I just… I was waiting for him to do _something_ these past few days, prove me wrong. I was waiting for him to kiss me like he normally does and he didn't. He only did this morning," Alex's voice broke, "after I was a girl again."

Once more, Magnus internally slapped himself for stating the obvious. "Have you talked to him about it?" It wasn't like he had any real experience with relationships but everyone always said that communication is key.

Alex threw her head back in exasperation. "Ugh! No! That's the problem! I know I should talk to him and I don't think he's doing this intentionally, not really, but…" Alex trailed off. She raised her legs onto the couch and hugged them close to her chest. Magnus had the sudden urge to wrap her in a blanket and bring her hot chocolate to make her feel better.

"I'm scared," she said in a small voice. "This… it reminds me too much of how things were like before I came to Hogwarts."

"…What were things like before?" Magnus asked hesitantly. He regretted his words immediately as Alex hugged her legs tighter. He spoke quickly, waving his hands frantically as he tried to take his words back. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to! It's okay!"

Alex shook her head. "No, it's… it's fine. It was like… I wasn't _me_. I mean, I was, but I couldn't _act_ like that. Not around others. I didn't really have friends at Durmstrang, more like people I knew that didn't mind being around me. They were "friends" with me," Alex made huge air quotes with her fingers, "but not actually me. Who they knew was "Alexander Fierro"," air quotes once again, "heir to the Fierro fortune. I knew they wouldn't act the same if they knew I wasn't always a boy. I heard the things they said."

Magnus didn't need Alex to elaborate on that. He knew people could say really horrible things either because they didn't understand or because they didn't know any better. After he started questioning whether he didn't liked only girls, every time someone would make a mean comment about homosexual or bisexual people it felt like a jab for him. The ignorant insults felt personal and they hurt.

"There was a girl at Durmstrang I was close to," Alex went on. "We talked more and she didn't seem to care about my family. I knew that she had a gay brother so I hoped she'd be more open than the others…"

X, she didn't even want to think her name anymore, had told Alex about her brother and while she had said her parents weren't so happy, it was obvious she loved her brother dearly. They wrote letters to each other frequently and she would always bring him up in conversation. It made Alex feel a lot more comfortable, the fact that she knew for sure there was someone more accepting.

"She wasn't. I told her everything, I confided in her. I felt like a weight had been taken of my shoulders." Alex let out a small, bitter laugh and Magnus only understood she was crying when her voice broke. "She took that weight and hit me on the head with it. She spoke with the teachers, contacted my parents, made me a complete joke at Durmstrang."

Those last few months had been hell on earth for Alex. Every student would now refer to her as a girl and turn the word and the pronouns into sneers. They would give her 'girly' things like accessories, make up and skirts and throw slurs at her. They'd make sure she knew how little they liked her. Even the teachers would emphasize her full name whenever they talked to her and make sure they used _boy_ even when they didn't need to.

Honestly, spending the summer at the streets had almost been a relief after that.

"The moment the school year ended my parents told me that they don't want me coming back to their house." A sob shook Alex's body and she wiped away the tears from her eyes furiously. "I mean, I was kind of expecting it, to be honest. I have no illusion that my parents ever cared about me. They would have thrown me out the moment Loki left me at their door if it wouldn't have destroyed their image."

Magnus scooted closer to Alex without a second thought and put an arm around her shoulders. He pulled her close and held her to his chest. He didn't know what he should do to help Alex but his instincts screamed at him to hug her, as if it would shield her from the pain. If only.

Another thing his instincts told him to do was find the girl Alex told him about and have her and Alex's parents endure horrible punishments. As tempting as the thought was, it would have to wait.

"So, yeah," Alex said as she buried her face in Magnus's sweater. "I'm scared. Mean words from strangers are one thing, but a person I'm friends with? Even worse, in a relationship with?" She shook her head and Magnus felt her hair rub against his clothes.

"I don't want to lose the people I trust," she said quietly.

Magnus tightened his arms around her. "You won't. You'll always have Sam, Mallory, T.J and Halfborn and me. You're not getting rid of us this easily."

Alex laughed weakly. She stopped hugging her knees in favor of hugging him back. "Damn it."

Magnus chuckled. "I still think you should talk to Conall. If it's just a misunderstanding then it's better to get it out of the way as soon as possible. You don't want a misunderstanding to ruin your relationship, you," God, this hurt to say, "you two look good together."

 _Even though I keep wishing it was me you kissed instead of him,_ Magnus thought but kept it to himself.

"And if you are right about Conall… well, same thing, you want to get it out of the way as soon as possible."

Alex nodded. "Thank you," she mumbled.

They fell into silence. Somehow Magnus had ended up propped against the arm of the couch with Alex hugging him and practically lying on top of him. Their breathing had seemed to synchronize and Magnus found himself playing with Alex's hair. The silence was only broken by the crackling of the fire in the fireplace.

"Hey, Alex? Can I ask something?" He asked after a few moments.

"Hm?" Alex shifted so that she was supporting her weight by her elbows and she was looking straight at Magnus.

"Why did you ask me for advice? I've never been in a relationship myself, wouldn't it be more logical to ask Mallory or even Sam?"

Alex didn't speak for a moment as she herself seemed to be wondering why she did go to Magnus for help. She hadn't thought about it much, honestly.

"I trust you," she finally said. "You make me feel at peace."

Alex was looking at him it the eye and Magnus could not look away. He never could with Alex's eyes. They were just so captivating. It was as if an actual physical force wouldn't let him look anywhere that wasn't Alex Fierro's eyes or face.

Her skin was darker than his. Not as dark as Sam's, but definitely dark. It looked smooth and Magnus knew she probably had clay or paint stuck in her nails. Her hair was a mop of green locks that looked so fluffy and felt as good to the touch as you'd expect. Her eyes were pulls off molten gold and chocolate respectively and this close to her he could see the individual specks of color in them. Her mouth was slightly open, he lips full and pink and probably so smooth. Magnus knew exactly how they moved when she talked or when she laughed.

Alex was in a similar state. She hadn't realized how right her statement was until she spoke the words and she couldn't say they weren't a hundred percent true. Magnus, with his dirty blonde hair and atrocious haircut, his geeky outbursts and eyes like the sky on a cloudy day had a calming effect on Alex she hadn't noticed until now.

Weird, because her heart felt anything but calm now, beating a mile a minute as her eyes were somehow fixated on Magnus's lips. They were a pink worthy of make-up companies yet a bit chapped from him biting on them all the time and they were moving closer and closer as they both leaned in almost instinctively.

 _I wonder what it'll be like to kiss Magnus._

 _I wonder what it'll be like to kiss Alex._

That was the last thought they both had before their minds just shut down. Nothing else mattered, not now. They were alone in the Room of Requirement, they were lying on a couch by a fireplace with an old frayed blanket covering their feet and they felt calm. They were in their own little personal bubble where time, or the lessons they were late to didn't exist.

They didn't matter. All that mattered at that moment, all they wanted to pay attention to was each other's warmth, each other's eyes and each one's breath that ghosted over their lips as they moved closer.

They were a breath apart when the moment was shattered and their bubble popped by an especially loud crack in the fire as a log broke in half. Magnus and Alex jerked at their seats and snapped out of their dazes. Suddenly what they almost did dawned on them and all the things that didn't exist in their bubble came crushing back,

"I, uh, um… sh-should we go to class?" Magnus stammered out as he sat up straight hurriedly. He moved so hastily that he accidently knocked foreheads with Alex. The Slytherin girl moved back with an "Ow!" and pressed her palm against her head. She tried to get off the couch as quickly as possible but her legs - and Magnus's for that matter- were tangled up in the old blanket and she lost her balance as she tried to stand up.

"Ugh." She groaned as she fell off the couch on her knees.

"Are- are you alright?" Magnus asked. His hands dangled awkwardly in the middle between them, wanting to help her out but also feeling like he wanted to bolt out of here as soon as possible after _that._

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Alex took Magnus's hand and got to her feet. A second passed before they both realized they were still holding hands and when they did they jumped almost a meter away from each other.

"I,uh, should be going," Magnus mumbled and pointed behind his back at the door. The poor boy looked like a fish out of water.

"Yeah, me- me too. Thank you for—for talking."

They both made for the door. The room that had felt so comfortably warm just a moment ago was like an inferno right now. Or maybe it was just their burning cheeks. They were blushing so hard that their skin was redder than the Gryffindor common (and that said something).

They reached for the doorknob simultaneously and their hands met, sending a small lightning bolt down each of their spines. They pulled them back as fast as they could, holding them to their chests like they had just been burnt.

"Uh, um, after you," Magnus said and gestured at the door.

"Th- thank you." They both stepped out of the room and the door disappeared from the wall the moment it closed behind them. "I, uh… b-bye. See you around, I-I guess?"

"Y-yeah, b-bye."

They stood where they were uncomfortable for a moment, looking everywhere but at each other. Alex was the first one to leave, soon followed by Magnus, and they both tried as hard as they could not to start running as fast as they could to their dorms.

At least not until they had turned the corner. One simple thought went through both their minds as they run to their respective lessons:

 _What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck_

 _What the fuck did I just do?_

/

Alex hadn't been able to pay attention to any of her classes for the rest of the day. Everything went by in a blur, whatever the teachers said went in through one ear and straight out the other. How was she supposed to pay attention to anything after _that?_

She had went to Magnus for advice, talked about her past with him and he helped her like the fucking ball of sunshine he was. The more she thought about it the more she realized she had meant what she had said. Magnus made her feel at peace, as cheesy as that may sound. They lay on the couch in silence and Alex had felt calm and comfortable.

And _then_ she had to be an idiot and ruin everything! She had almost kissed him! Not only was Alex dating someone already, Magnus most probably didn't even like her like that!

…Did she like him like that?

He certainly wasn't hard on the eyes, that was for sure. Then again, she thought that for all her friends. She brought up Magnus's face in her mind, his fluffy blonde hair and his clear eyes and that little dimple on his left cheek whenever he smiled and her heart decided to do a backflip. She felt her cheeks heat and she bowed her head, pretending that she was taking notes.

 _W-well, just thinking he's pretty doesn't mean I like him like that,_ Alex though in obvious denial. Images of the two of them popped into her mind. They held hands as they walked and laughed together, they cuddled on Alex's bed in Perthro while watching movies and Magnus played with her hair, he kissed her sweetly on the lips at breakfast as goodmorning. With every new imaginary scenario her heart picked up the tempo and beat even louder.

The realization hit Alex like the Hogwarts Express and it took her a moment too long to realize that the lesson was over and she could leave for lunch. When she did, she quickly packed her stuff and run out the door to the closest bathroom. Thankfully, it was empty.

Alex splashed some water on her face and tried to calm her heart. She liked Magnus. She _liked_ liked Magnus. She wanted to hold his hand and kiss him and cuddle and – oh, Merlin. Her heart skipped a beat every time she thought of that like she was in some stupid fanfic.

It dawned on her then that she had never reacted like that about Conall. She liked him, she didn't hate the guy, but she had never felt like the main character of a crappy YA novel. Hell, looking back at it, what she had thought when Conall asked her out was 'Sure, why not?'

She splashed water on her face again. Okay, let's review: she realized she might have never liked her boyfriend romantically to begin with, said boyfriend had been treating her differently whenever she was male so she had to talk to him about that and she almost kissed one of her best friends who she does like romantically but who probably doesn't feel the same way.

"Merlin's underpants," Alex muttered as she let her face fall in her hands. This sucks, why did people bother with feelings? She felt envious of T.J for being aro/ace and not having to deal with this shit.

Alex didn't realize how long she stayed in the bathroom muttering curses under her breath. She only left when a first year student walked into the bathroom to see her repeatedly hitting her head against the wall. The little girl looked at her very confused but Alex just walked out of the bathroom and headed to the Hall of the Slain to bury her feelings in food.

Elsewhere in the castle, Magnus was having a similar breakdown. His Professor was drowning on and on about something but Magnus wasn't paying attention to what- hell, he wasn't even sure what class he was in right now.

 _I almost kissed Alex I almost kissed Alex I almost kissed Alex._ His mind was like a broken record player, repeating that phrase over and over until it felt like it had been tattooed on his brain.

He had fucked up, he had fucked up so badly. Alex didn't like him like that. They were friends, that's why she had come to him for help. He liked being her friend and yet he might have completely destroyed everything with what he just pulled. Alex had come to him for advice and what does his brilliant brain tell him to do? Try and kiss her! Marlin, he's an idiot.

 _Alex has a boyfriend,_ he reminded himself, _even if they're having problems right now, they might work things out._ And even if they didn't, even if they ended up breaking up, there was no way Alex liked him like that, not with how she had run as far away from him as soon as possible.

Magnus let his head fall on the desk behind his open book. Fortunately, he was sitting at the back of the room so the Professor wouldn't notice that he wasn't paying attention. He could feel the questioning stare from his fellow Hufflepuff dig into his back as he wondered what was wrong with Magnus and why he was lying on his desk like his life was over.

It might as well be.

Alex could hardly touch him after his little stunt. She _fell on the ground_ trying to get off the couch and away from him for crying out loud! She snatched her arm back the moment they so much as touched! She probably found the idea of them dating repulsive.

Magnus groaned into his desk quietly. Nobody heard him, save for the boy that sat next to him and was still very confused as to what was happening with him.

"Mate, are you alright?" he asked in a hushed voice. The teacher didn't notice, too busy explaining something or the other.

"Just leave me here to die," Magnus mumbled back.

Even if he couldn't see the other kid's face he could feel the awkwardness roll of him in waves. There was a stiff little pat on Magnus's shoulder, like a silent 'hang in there', and he didn't disturb him for the rest of the lesson.

Magnus didn't say or do anything until the bell rang and he could leave for lunch, he spent the rest of the class period to wallow in his own self pity. He walked to the Hall of the Slain as is a haze and all he wanted was to stuff his face with food until he was too full to think of anything else.

What he or Alex hadn't realized was that they ate lunch together and so they would have to face each other. Magnus preferred to go through the Imperius curse.

When Alex walked into the Hall of the Slain and walked over to table 19 to see Magnus's blonde head she wanted to turn around and run to the dungeons. Maybe she could talk some house-elf into giving her food so she wouldn't have to face Magnus so soon after the realization. Her heart was doing a drum solo just at the sight of his blonde head and she wondered if she could beat up her heart until it stopped doing that.

Conall waved at her. "Hey, Alex!"

Great, now they had all noticed she was here. She couldn't turn around to leave now. She made her way to their table and sat at the last free seat, which was, oh would you look at that, between Conall and Magnus. Honestly, was there some higher force or something that liked laughing at her pain and misery?

Saying that was the most awkward luch of their lives would be an understatement. With nine people sitting at the table they were already pretty crammed. Normally it wasn't so bad, but when Magnus and Alex felt like lighting had gone through them every time their elbows hit accidently it was. They tried their best not to look at each other, especially not in the eye, and by the end of it they felt like it would have been less exhausting to write an exam.

The only good thing was that they had both come to a decision on how to deal with their troublesome feelings by the time they had to leave for afternoon classes.

 _It's probably just a stupid crush, it'll go away in like a week,_ Alex tried to convince herself as she made her way to the greenhouse for Herbology, refusing to accept how much like a lie that sounded even to her.

 _I should just try to forget about it,_ Magnus told himself as headed to Charms. _I probably don't stand a chance anyway._

If any of their friends knew the whole situation from both sides and were listening to their thoughts right now they would have face-palmed. Those idiots.

* * *

 ***hides under the bed* PLEASE DON"T KILL ME!**

 **Actually, you would be right to kill me, I would do the same in your place, but still!**


	15. Good riddance!

**Once more I'm way too impatient to wait until Monday to update, but I'm sure you don't have a problem with that ;)**

 **FINALLY, Alex breaks up with Conall! *throws confetti* I'm sure you've been waiting for this moment as long as I have. Please bear in mind I've never written a break-up scene before so if I fucked it up, I'm sorry. I tried.**

* * *

Alex was sitting at the edge of the Astronomy tower, his legs dangling over the side. It was a pretty big fall to the ground, but he wasn't scared. The Astronomy tower had a charm cast on it that prevented students from hitting the ground if they fell. From what Alex had heard, it was like falling on jelly.

Students were milling about the school grounds despite the chill. With Christmas coming closer and closer with each passing day the weather was getting colder and colder. A cool breeze blew and Alex's green hair whipped around his face. In his warm coat and handmade scarf he wasn't that cold, and even if he was he wouldn't have minded. He found the cool made him feel more alert and he could certainly use that right now.

The old heavy door that lead to the roof opened with a loud creak. Turning around, Alex saw Conall's head peaking from behind the door. His eyes scanned the roof before landing on the young Slytherin and stepping out of the shielding the door provided him.

"Alex?" he said hesitantly. "Um, hi. Sam said you wanted to talk to me about something?" What had probably been a statement came out as more of a question as the freckled Ravenclaw fiddled with the fabric of his robes awkwardly.

Alex nodded. "Yes. I…" Alex trailed of and he cursed himself. Dammit, he had no reason to feel nervous or hesitate! He had thought about what he wanted to do and how he was going to say it. With a deep breath he fixed a steely stare on Conall and spoke confidently. "You've been acting weird lately."

There was a flash of… something in Conall's eyes. Fear? Confusion? Whatever it was it was gone just as quickly as it came. "Weird?" Conall asked with furrowed eyebrows. _I spoke too vaguely,_ Alex realized.

"Yeah. You've been acting different around me whenever I'm a boy." They were standing about two meters apart and the air between them felt cold, and not just because of the weather. Conall seemed to shrink under Alex's gaze and he shifted uncomfortably from one leg to the other without saying anything.

Alex moved his weight from one hip to the other and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well?" He asked, voice sharp and hard. He had expected Conall to deny the accusation or confirm or hell, even act like he didn't understand what Alex was talking about! He had expected everything but this silence and it somehow got him angrier than Conall denying what he did would have.

"I'm sorry," the boy finally said in a quiet voice, eyes staring at the floor instead of Alex.

"Is that all you have to say?" Alex snapped at him, the pain and confusion and desperation he felt the last few days seeping into his voice and turning in a burning anger that he couldn't hold back. "Seriously, do you know what it's like knowing someone you're close to doesn't accept all of you? It's horrible, that's what it is!" Conall would still not look at him and his shoulders were hunched up as if he was trying to hide behind them

"You have a nagging voice at the back of your head constantly telling you that they like you, just not that specific part! It," Alex's voice broke and the rest of what he had to say came out in a voice that was barely audible over the blowing wind. "… it makes you question whether the rest of your friends feel the same way."

It was hard not to let the doubt Conall's behavior created seep into other things. It would rear its ugly head like the monster in Alex's closet and corrupt anything he was sure about. Did Sam really accept him, despite her religion? Did Mallory, T.J and Halfborn actually hate him secretly? Would Magnus – or anyone for that matter- like him regardless of gender?

Every time a thought like that entered his mind he felt like hitting his head on a wall just to remind himself that he was wrong and that his friends cared for him. They liked him like he was, confusing gender and everything, and he knew that. Still, it was hard for his brain not to instinctively pull up all the instances of someone who didn't feel like that, their harsh words and accusing stares. Those people were why he refused to take shit from people for his gender, yet it felt different when it was someone you knew and cared about rather than a faceless, nameless git. The thought hurt more.

Pushing the thoughts put of his brain, Alex blinked his eyes to push back the moisture that had gathered there. No way was he going to cry now.

"I'm sorry, I… don't really have an excuse for acting the way I did and I'm sorry for hurting you, that was never my intention." It honestly looked like Conall was trying to make himself look as tiny as possible in hopes that maybe then he would disappear. His voice was heavy with shame, same as his face. It made a part of Alex feel good and he didn't feel that guilty about it. Conall's shame felt like payback for everything he had gone through recently.

"I know it wasn't, but you did." Alex's voice sounded confident and hard, no sign of sympathy for his soon-to-be ex-boyfriend. "I think we should stop this. The dating thing."

Once more, Conall's reaction wasn't what he expected. No surprise at Alex for wanting to break up with him – although if he really thought they would still be together after this he was stupid – no trying to change Alex's mind, no fighting back of any sorts. He simply nodded and accepted it and Alex was glad he was at least mature about this. He didn't have the enrgy to put with any drama right now, at least not in a civil way.

"Alright. I actually wanted to talk to you about that since I realized how I was acting. Can we still be friends?"

The suggestion sent a pang of disgust through Alex's entire body, the same as smelling something terrible would. No, being friends again with him didn't feel right, not now.

Alex shook his head. "No. I'm not sure how I feel about being around you anymore."

Conall's expression fell only slightly. Apparently he was expecting that answer. "I understand. Acquaintances, maybe?"

Alex shrugged. "I guess that's fine." A 'good morning' here and there didn't sound that bad. Just typical, dry communication with no real feeling behind it.

"Say," Alex started saying when he remembered what Conall had said before asking if they could stay friends, "if you had wanted to break it off since you realized you didn't act the same around me on my male days, why didn't you say anything?"

 _It would have saved both of us a lot of trouble,_ he thought but he didn't say it. It was already pretty clear without either of them voicing it.

Conall's face blanched and when he opened his mouth he was rambling. "Okay, it's completely stupid and I'm an idiot, but I was afraid of the confrontation. I don't like hurting people, well, I guess no one does, but I was basically afraid of hurting you." What he just said seemed to register in his brain and he smacked his forehead so hard someone in the Slytherin common room must have heard. "And by not saying anything, I hurt you more. As I said, I'm an idiot, wow. I kind of surprised you haven't slapped me yet."

Alex shrugged, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Can't be bothered. And yes, you're an idiot. If you wanted to break up but you wouldn't bring it up, how would that ever happen?"

He was almost laughing by now at how stupid that was and how stupid they were for staying in a relationship they both wanted to get out of.

Conall must have been thinking the same thing because he was rubbing the back of his neck in a flustered way. "I don't know. I sort of wished you would dump me because you liked Magnus."

Alex would have laughed because this is probably the only time someone wanted their significant other to leave them for someone else. He would have laughed if the name Conall said hadn't stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Wh-what?" He could feel his face burning as hot as a heater in the chilly weather and he was looking at Conall with eyes as big as dishes, wishing he would say it was just a joke.

Ales, Conall just looked at Alex confused. "You don't? I'm sorry, I guess I just assumed. You always seemed very close, I was actually afraid you were dating before I asked you out." Conall laughed nervously, completely oblivious to how much Alex was freaking out right now. Was he really that obvious about his crush on Magnus? Had people noticed before even he had noticed? Did Magnus notice and did he feel weird about it?

"And you would act odd around him sometimes," Conall went on, "like, you would stare too for too long, so I kind of hoped you would break it off with me to be with him."

Alex didn't speak. He didn't joke about how crazy or unlikely it was for him to like Magnus like that, he didn't laugh about it, he did nothing. He simply stood there, face redder than the Gryffindor banner, refusing to look Conall in the eye.

After a moment of silence, Conall was the one to speak up.

"Do you like him?"

Silence. Then, despite his heart beating like a drum, Alex nodded.

"'I think you should tell him,'" Conall says after a few seconds. "'Who knows, maybe he likes you back. And if he doesn't, just be mature about it and things won't be awkward.'" Conall had the same tone of voice he had whenever he would quote something from the text book during lessons. "That's what Magnus said when I asked him for advice on asking you out. Well, he used different pronouns, but you get the point. Maybe you should give it a shot."

Alex shook his head. "He doesn't like me like that." Merlin, who breaks up with their boyfriend just to have him give them romantic advice about someone else they liked?

"I don't think that's the case, but you know, what you do is your choice. I don't think I have a right to tell you what to do about that. Anyway, I should get going, I've been meaning to go to the library."

Alex heard Conall's footsteps as he left the rooftop. He was sitting back on the edge of the rooftop again, looking down on the school grounds but not actually seeing them. He was too lost in his thoughts. A cold wind blew by and he didn't bother pulling his coat closer.

Conall's words rang in his ears. _I think you should tell him. Who knows, maybe he likes you_ _back._

… Should he go for it?

* * *

A few weeks passed since Alex broke up with Conall. The Ravenclaw no longer sat at their table and the group of friends wouldn't see him unless they happened to have a lesson with him. Even then, they never went beyond a simple "Good morning" or "Hello". The most any of them had heard of him was when he asked Percy and Annabeth how Ilvermorny was because he was thinking of signing up for the student exchange program next year.

"So what do you think you'll do after school?" Annabeth asked Halfborn. It might be hardly Christmas but Halfborn, Annabeth and Percy – the three members of their group that were graduating this year- could already feel the anxiousness that came with their final exams.

"I'm not quite sure just yet, there's a lot of things I want to study." Halfborn cut up a piece of his omelet and stared at it as he talked. He was lost in thought, they all knew that, but it kinda looked like he was asking a piece of egg for the answers he wanted. "I'm really interested in variations of spells from country to country. I'm kind of thinking being a DADA teacher wouldn't be half bad."

"I want to be a magic researcher," Annabeth said. "People have been stuck in the same old spells and charms for so many years, even when magic keeps evolving. I want to test how far we can go."

"Guess we know who's going to be the successful cousin," Magnus joked. Everyone at their table laughed and Sam started talking to Annabeth about what she wanted to research. T.J asked Percy what he wanted to do, to which Percy just shrugged and said "I dunno. Auror?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you!" Annabeth suddenly said mid-sentence as she remembered something important. "Since the Triwizard tournament is next year, we managed to pull some strings so we'll be able to come and visit during the last task."

Another excited discussion started among the students as they started talking about the Triwizard tournament, something that – weirdly enough - they had forgotten about.

"We should all sign up next year!" T.J said. "Who knows, maybe one of us will be Champion!"

"The tournament is very dangerous, we could get seriously injured," Sam started, always the voice of reason, but upon seeing her friends' faces she relented. "Oh, why not? The chances of being picked are low anyway."

"Aw, don't be like that, sis!" Alex said, throwing an arm over his sister's shoulders in a weird side hug. "It will be fun! And maybe you can convince the teachers to let Amir come visit during the tournament."

The conversation continued like that for a while, the group of friends arguing about which one of them was more likely to be picked as Champion. The conversation was sadly cut short when the bell rang and they had to get to class.

Alex, Mallory, Sam and Halfborn had History of Magic and they headed to the classroom like sheep to the slaughter. Halfborn had chocolates hidden in his pockets and he shared them with the other Slytherins in order to keep themselves (at least partially) awake during the boring lesson.

The four of them had devised a plan since the start of the year. They would take turns and every time they had a lesson one of them would pay attention and keep notes while the others napped on their desks. Today it was Halfborn's turn, which is why he was eating his weight in sugar.

Alex didn't really mind History (at least when he didn't have to pay attention to their boring Professor). He could sit at the back, relax and sketch in his notebook until the lesson finished. He was sitting next to Sam right now, who had pulled out a book to read and hid it behind her textbook. Alex was sketching lines and curves on the paper, not really thinking too much about what he was drawing.

Halfway through the lesson Sam tapped his shoulder. He turned to her and made a "what?" gesture with his hand (he had been getting better at sign language lately, although he was still not as good as Magnus). Sam pointed to his notebook and mouthed 'nice'. Confused, Alex glanced down to see Magnus looking at him from the paper.

Stupid fucking romantic clichés – did he seriously just draw Magnus without even realizing it?

Much to Sam's confusion, Alex let his head fall on the desk with a light thud. Sam was even more confused when Alex started muttering under his breath. The only things she caught were "fucking feeling", "like to make me suffer" and "I'm gonna beat up whoever thought this is funny". Sam decided it was best he gave his brother some space.

Conall's words danced around Alex's mind as he was beating himself up over being reduced to a lovestruck schoolgirl by a boy with fluffy blonde hair and pretty eyes and an endearingly bad fashion sense and a nice laugh and- Oh, for Merlin's sake!

Who in their right mind thought feelings were a good thing?

 _I think you should tell him. Who knows, maybe he likes you_ _back._ Alex heard Conall's advice once more, though this time "Kiss the girl" played in the background with Halfborn at the vocals, for some strange reason (even his own mind didn't make sense anymore). Should he try out his luck and ask Magnus out? He could always reject him, but Alex hoped they would still be able to be friends afterwards. The small possibility that he would say yes made Alex feel like his heart had completely forgot how it was supposed to beat. The green-haired boy groaned into his notebook. Ugh, feelings suck.

Finally sitting up, Alex tore a page from his notebook and started writing. _So a friend from Hufflepuff has wanted to ask this boy he likes out for some time now, but he's not sure whether he should because they're friends and he doesn't want things to get awkward. What should I tell him to do?_

Alex nodded to himself before passing the note to Mallory. He knew how stupid the whole 'I have a friend who' thing was, but he hoped saying which house his friend was in would convince Mallory he wasn't just lying.

The redhead read the note carefully, sending Alex a questioning stare before quickly scribbling down an answer. She glanced quickly to see if the Professor was looking and gave the note back to Alex.

 _I think he should tell him if he has wanted to do it for so long. He should make it clear that he wants things to go on as always if he's rejected._

Alex nodded to himself. Yeah, that sounded logical. His eyes moved down the page to Mallory's little P.S.

 _P.S. Try not to be so obvious when you want dating advice, Alex._

Alex's cheeks burned red and he hit his head on the desk again. He heard quiet snickering form Mallory's desk and he felt her hand pat him quickly on the back. Alex continued to lay there, contemplating where he had gone wrong in life, until he felt a tap on his shoulder. Raising his head, he saw another slip of paper on his desk. He unfolded it to see a short message from Halfborn.

 _Go get him, love boy!_ _3 3 3_

 _-Halfborn_

Alex sent a glare to Halfborn, slowly tracing a line across his neck in the universal "I'll kill you" motion. Halfborn only smirked and blew him a kiss. Alex slammed his head back on the desk.

 _Someone please put me out of my misery._

* * *

Alex was running down the schools corridors as fast as he could. He had just finished Quidditch practice and he had hardly enough time to get his hair out of its messy ponytail. He was still high on adrenaline from practice and throwing balls at people to get them to fall of their brooms (Merlin, he loved this sport) and he decided that if he was going to do this he might as well do it now.

He was doing. He was going to ask out Magnus.

He run past the students milling around the castle, all of them surprised to see a sweaty Slytherin running like his life depended on it. Some tried to get out of his way but even if they didn't move at all Alex maneuvered between them easily without hitting anyone. (Okay, almost. He might have bumped into a random Ravenclaw that had her nose buried in a book and knocked her down, but he apologized and helped her up.)

If he remembered correctly, Magnus tended to be in the library at this time. Since he and T.J weren't in either one of their Quidditch teams they didn't have practice at this hour and would use the time to hang out in the library, doing (or trying to do) their homework.

Alex turned another corner and tried to will his hearts to slow down. This was going to be fine. He would find where Magnus was sitting, ask to talk to him in private if he was with T.J and then ask him on a date. He would try to play it cool if everything went well and Magnus said yes. If he said no he would be mature and say it's alright, that he just needed to get out of his chest and ask that they keep being friends. It would be alright. Everything would be fine.

 _It would be easier to believe that if my bloody heart could stop beating like this,_ Alex thought bitterly, but pushed those thoughts down. Part of him was scared that for all his confidence and give-zero-shits attitude he would lose it in front of Magnus and make a full of himself. Then the logical part of his brain told him that he's already made a full of himself in front of Magnus several times. Magnus had seen him attempt (and failing) to do the opening dance from Lucky Star, for crying out loud! There was nothing left for him to be ashamed of.

 _Well, things could still go badly and you could lose one of your best friends, but no pressure!_

 _You're not helping, brain!_

Finally, the doors of the library came into view and Alex picked up his pace. He accidently run into a student again but he managed to dodge in the last second (the other student wasn't that happy about that). He finally slowed down next to the doors to catch his breath and cast a quick cleaning spell on him, enough that he didn't smell of sweat. No way was he going to ask out Magnus while panting and smelling like a locker-room.

When he could finally breathe normally, he patted down his hair to make sure it wasn't a rat's nest and walked into the library. He knew there was a table Magnus liked to sit at near the windows so he headed over there. As he got closer, he started hearing bits and pieces of their conversation.

"Say, Magnus, can I ask something?" Alex heard T.J ask. The Slytherin was standing behind a bookcase and if he pushed some books aside he could see the two boys sitting in a table by the window. Alex didn't make a move to walk up to them. He could just wait here until they finished their conversation. (Was he trying to procrastinate? Yes.)

"Sure, go ahead." Magnus was bent over a roll of parchment, scribbling manically as he tried to think of enough meaningless crap to write so he could reach the word limit of the essay. (Alex remembered showing him how to bullshit his way through an assignment like a Politian after the blonde had complained to him about having to write a very long essay.)

"Do you like Alex?" T.J spoke casually, but casual was nowhere near what Alex's reaction was. His heart fell like it had burst like a balloon inside his chest and his fingers were gripping at the bookshelf so hard his knuckles had turned white. He could hear his heart beat like a drum at the prospect of finding out if Magnus liked him. He tried to breathe through his nose to calm down but it had little effect.

He concentrated as hard as he could and tried to hear what his friends were saying.

"Yeah, of course I like Alex," Magnus said, uttering the words like it was something as easy as breathing. It didn't seem possible but Alex's heart started beating even faster. A blush started spreading across his cheeks and he tried his best not to smile wide like an idiot. Magnus liked him back, yes!

But Magnus hadn't finished. "We're friends after all," he continued. Alex heart dropped instantly and the smile he had failed pushing back disappeared from his face.

 _No, it's okay,_ he said to himself. _He sounds a bit weird, maybe he's just embarrassed to say it out loud. You'd feel awkward too in his place._ Alex wouldn't have answered that question without being forced to. Magnus could just be denying it, though his face was turned away from him so Alex couldn't see his expression to be sure.

Alex could see T.J rolling his eyes from the little gap between the books. "No, I mean, _like_ like. Like how Halfborn likes Mallory or Annabeth likes Percy." The Ravenclaw spoke slowly, like he was speaking to a baby or someone completely stupid (which was a pretty good description of the Ravenclaw house now that Alex thinks about it).

Magnus didn't speak and Alex saw him writing his essay, ignoring T.J that was glaring at him with a frown.

"Do you have a crush on Alex?" He asked slowly and bluntly, holding Magnus by his shoulders so he couldn't look away.

"No, I don't," Magnus said and Alex felt the rejection hit him hard in the chest. "I've never stopped to think about it, to be honest. Can you imagine me and Alex as a couple?" The blonde laughed lightly and Alex clenched at the bookshelf so heard he might break it.

He turned around and run out of the library, frantically wiping away the angry tears in his eyes, determined not to cry. Of course Magnus didn't like him, what was he thinking? Why would someone like him romantically, anyway? Why would anyone want him? Who would want him with his weird hair and inconvenient gender and his lame jokes? Nobody, that' who. Merlin, he was a mess.

Alex run to the closest bathroom – he didn't bother to look whether in was for girls or boys- and he stayed there until he stopped punching the wall with every stray tear that made it out of his eyes.

Back in the library, T.J was not convinced of what Magnus was telling him. Alex hadn't seen the blush on the boy's cheeks when he first denied the accusations and he did not hear the light tremble and the hesitance in his voice the second time. Alex hadn't noticed how awkward and unnatural his laugh sounded or over-the-top his voice was as he tried to sell his lie.

"Magnus, how long have we known each other?" T.J asked with deadly seriousness. Without waiting for Magnus to answer, he continued. "Since first year. I know you, Magnus. I've seen you do both brilliant and utterly idiotic things. Do you really believe you can fool me with that?"

Magnus's shoulders slumped and he sighed deeply. "No. Worth a try though, right?"

T.J ignored the boy's sheepish smile. "If you like Alex, why won't you do something? I've seen the way you look at him and you're worse than Halfborn was, my friend."

"Look, I…" Magnus trailed off, unsure how to continue. How was he supposed to explain how small of a chance he had of being with someone as amazingly brilliant as Alex or how scared he was to try for something more that could fail and cost him one of the best friends he ever had?

"Alex just broke up with Conall and I just don't think it would be a good idea to ask him out immediately. He probably needs some time to himself, right?" Magnus said, applying the same logic Alex had taught him about essays to what he was saying. "And just being attracted to someone doesn't mean you want a relationship, so I might not even want to ask him out. Even if I wanted to, I'd… do it at my own time. There's no reason to rush."

T.J sighed and picked up his quill again. "Whatever you say, buddy. You might be better than Halfborn and ask him out without our help."

 _I don't think that's going to happen._ Alex wasn't interested in him and that much was clear. He never brought up their almost kiss in the Room of Requirement so he obviously wanted to pretend like it had never happened. If that's what Alex wanted, he could respect it.

Losing him as a friend wasn't worth it.

* * *

 ***hides under the bed again* Don't kill me! I know this doesn't make things any better, but I could have made Magnus get a girlfriend to try and get over Alex, so... yeah, this was the better option for all of you. (Also I was too lazy to do the whole girlfriend thing and hey, I might like torturing you but even I have limits).**

 **On better news, yes, next chapter is officially their seventh year and the Triwizard Tournament! *throws confetti again* Please leave any suggestions you have for the tasks in the comments because I need inspiration even if I have a general idea of what I want the tasks to be like.**


	16. DID YA PUT YA NAME IN THE GOBLET OF FIYA

**Yes, we're here! I've been waiting forward to this part since I started this story. So, with no further ado, I present to you the Triwizard Tournament!**

* * *

The rest of their sixth year had gone by relatively well. Halfborn managed to get the N.E.W.T.S he needed to get into the Wizarding University he needed, as did Percy and Annabeth. They threw a big party to celebrate it before the two Americans had to fly back and let's just say Halfborn took full advantage of the fact he could legally drink.

Sam had been doing research on how she could get permission to bring Amir to the Triwizard Tournament for the best part of the second semester. She hadn't yet told Amir since she didn't want to get his hopes up for nothing but Alex promised her that they could just sneak him in if they didn't get permission. Apparently the plan included fake mustaches and a bad accent.

And speaking of Alex, her relationship with Magnus had been… weird. They were still friends, sure, and you wouldn't notice something was wrong even if you knew both of them well. They hang out and joked together and spent entire nights awake binge-watching something from Netflix, but there were always those moments when they remembered of the crush they had – still had - on the other and had to remind themselves nothing would come of it and they should just move on already.

At times, they would get their hopes up for a moment. Holding eye-contact for a moment too long, hands brushing a bit too much, a joking 'I love you' and then squashing that hope down again. _Friends do those things too, it doesn't mean anything,_ they thought to themselves.

Summer went by in a flash, or maybe it just seemed like that to them. They met in front of King's Cross and sat together in a compartment, telling each other what they did during summer. Being back on the Hogwarts Express felt different this time. Maybe it was because the last time they were in one of its compartments they were squeezed tightly next to each other in order to fit eight people inside whereas now they were only five. Or maybe it was because they knew this was going to be the last time they got to ride the Hogwarts Express at the start of the school year. They were seventh years now- by next autumn they will have graduated.

"It feels weird to think this is the last time, huh?" T.J said at one point. "By next year we'll be officially adults."

"Now you made me feel old," Alex said sheepishly, but no one missed the melancholy tone in her voice. None of them other than Magnus knew all the details, but it didn't take much to understand Alex's time at Hogwarts were the happiest years of her life so far. Hogwarts had been her home for four years and the first place where she ever felt like she was accepted. It honestly scared her to think she would never come back after this year. _I suppose this is what normal kids feel like when they have to move out of their parents' house for the first time._

"I don't feel like an adult," Magnus said. "I can hardly grow a beard or drive and I have no clue what I'm supposed to do with my life."

Everybody but Sam – who knew for years she wanted to be a pilot- nodded in an 'I feel you' kind of way.

"You tell me," Mallory sighed. "Halfborn had been talking to me about different universities and courses and whatnot he was interested in for years and I was just like 'I guess I want to finish school?'"

"Yeah, for all our jokes about how he's an actual Viking, Halfborn has his life together better than any of us, save for Sam," T.J said.

"I don't have my life together that well," Sam said, more because of embarrassment for being left out of the conversation than anything else. And it was true! Like, yesterday she had stayed up later than she was supposed to and she didn't know a thing about cooking (ironic considering Amir's family owned a restaurant).

Sam was met with 'are you shitting me' looks by every one of their friends. "Sam," Alex said slowly, "you are already engaged with a boy you've been in love with for years and you've already applied for a bunch of piloting schools. You'll probably be accepted by all of them, to be honest."

Sam said nothing because Alex was right (although she doubted they would _all_ accept her. At least one would turn her down due to her religion despite her great qualifications.)

"Okay, enough with worrying about our future, guys!" Mallory said, standing up from her seat. "This is our last year! Let's make sure we enjoy it! We'll go out with a bang!"

The redhead threw her arms in the air and her friends were quick to follow. Alex run out of the compartment quickly and came back with arms filled with chocolate frogs and a bunch of other sweets. The group hollered and hooted and soon candy wrappers littered the floor as they sang horrible Top 40s songs (and musicals because Percy and Alex had bonded over their shared love for Hamilton and other musicals, which meant that Alex was singing 'Big Fun' from 'Heathers' at the top of her lungs).

They arrived at Hogwarts after T.J and Alex (with some helps from the others) had managed to sing though the entire first act of "In the Heights" (and wow, Magnus never knew he found Alex speaking Spanish hot, but _damn)._

The opening feast went on like always for the most part. And 'for the most part' because Headmaster Odin announced that the Triwizard tournament would take place in their school this year. The student went crazy over the announcement, obviously, especially those over 17 who could try out their luck and see if they would be chosen as Champion.

And so that was the standart topic of conversation for the first weeks of school. 'Which house will the Champion be from?', 'Who do you think will be Champion?' and 'Who will you take to the Yule Ball?' were the most common questions between students and eve some teachers asked them (read: Professor Jack).

And so the time passed by and October finally arrived. The 30th came and the students were unable to think of anything but the arrival of the two schools that evening. It became almost unbearable for the teachers, the constant murmur in the back of their classes. Some completely gave up on teaching and just talked with their students (again, Professor Jack, who told them about the beautiful French woman he dated once and the handsome Bulgarian man he charmed with his talents).

The moment the afternoon classes were over the students sprinted down to the Big Lake to watch the two other schools arrive. The students' excited talking created a cacophony that sounded like constant buzzing. The younger students were the ones more excited, or more obviously excited. The seventh years might not be bouncing up and down and squealing, but they wanted to.

"Hey, look!" a tiny first year yelled, pointing up at the sky. Everybody turned to look where she was pointing to see a pastel blue carriage being dragged across the sky. As the carriage got closer and closer it got bigger and bigger and what at first looked like a typical carriage ended up being as a two-deck bus on steroids. The students quickly moved aside to make room for the vehicle to land.

As the carriage landed and the winged horses that pulled it along came to a halt, Alex turned to Magnus. "It must be really hard to find parking space for that thing." The joke was so random it made Magnus crack up, despite effectively ruing the otherwise magical moment.

As the doors of the blue carriage opened, a tall, elegant man walked out with robes as blue as sapphires and gray streaks of hair at his temples. He was followed by a rather big group of students, all dressed in blue. The boys looked like they could all easily get the role of the pretty boy in a bad high school chick flick, wearing a sky blue blazer with details in darker blue and perfectly ironed blue pants. The girls could have easily passed as Veelas, moving gracefully in a way that made you wonder whether they actually had Veela blood. They wore the same blazers as the boys with a blue skirt that reached their knees and fluttered with their every step.

The students were arranged by year, the first years at the back and the seventh years at the front. A boy walked near the front, shoulders pushed back and head held high proudly. The light color of his uniform made his dark skin stand out and black curls peaked out from under his hat.

"There's so much blue I think I'll throw up," Magnus whispered at Alex. He honestly felt a bit nauseous at seeing so much of the color, no matter how attractive the students were.

"I'm more concerned about those ridiculous hats," Alex whispered back. "Who thought those things were a good idea?"

"The same guy who thought we should have big black pointy hats," T.J piped in.

The tall man, the headmaster of the school apparently, walked up to Odin and the two men shook hands.

"Gilbert, it's good to see you," the Hogwarts headmaster said with a smile, pronouncing Gilbert like _Jill-bare._

"Likewise, mon ami." The man- Gilbert- spoke in a soft, mellow tone that made Alex think he'd be great at telling kids bedtime stories. "Has Durmstrang arrived yet?" Gilbert's accent was almost unnoticeable, except for when a word had an 'r' in it.

"They should show up any minute-" The Headmaster was cut off by an explosion of water from the Big Lake. A large ship burst out of the water, spraying the watching students with water. The ship looked like what you would imagine a pirate ship like, made entirely of wood, with large masts and billowing sails that looked completely dry despite being just underwater. The figurehead at the prow of the large vessel was a sculptured dragon, its large wings plastered over the sides of the ship's hull and its eyes two gleaming red rubies.

The ship pulled closer to the shore and a wooden bridge was lowered. The first to exit was a tall woman with broad shoulders and almost white blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun. Her eyes were gray and sharp like a blade and there were deep lines around them. The students of Hogwarts were instantly met with the realization that she was one of those teachers that you don't want to piss off or you'll be damned to hell.

Alex stared at the woman with large, shocked eyes. Of course she would be here! He scolded himself for not figuring this out sooner and his blood run cold in his veins as he realized something else. _Oh, please don't let her be here, please don't let her be here._

"Alex?" Magnus asked, concern lacing his voice. His hand hovered in the air next to him, hesitant if he should touch Alex's shoulder or not. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm-"

The 'I'm fine' Alex would have said got cut in his throat as his eyes fell on a tall girl with auburn hair. She held her chin up high and as the students of Durmstrang got off the boat she looked at everyone with an expression as if she was above all of them. Her blood red robes made her white skin seem almost translucent. Her legs, strong from Quidditch, where clad the isothermal leggings that were part of the Durmstrang girl uniform. The fur coat hanging off her shoulder looked like the skin of a bear and Alex had no doubt in his mind she could easily kill a bear.

"Alex?" Magnus followed Alex's eyes to the Durmstrang girl. He didn't understand why confident Alex was left looking at the girl with frightened eyes until he remembered what Alex hat told him back in the Room of Requirement last year. "Is she…?"

Alex clearly understood what Magnus was asking because he nodded. "Y-Yeah."

Anger flared up in the Hufflepuff and he got some very un-Hufflepuff like thoughts regarding that girl.

"Alex, are you alright?" Mallory asked concerned, laying a hand on her roommate's shoulder.

"Who's that girl?" Sam asked, having noticed the way with which Alex was staring at the girl.

"She's a cow that hurt Alex," Magnus said simply, voice as cold as the weather back at Durmstrang.

The rest of their group didn't seem to need any more information because they were instantly glaring daggers at the back of the Durmstrang girl.

The Durmstrang students walked behind their Headmistress as she came to meet Odin.

"Odin, Gilbert, it's a pleasure to see you again," she said as they shook hands, her accent heavy when she spoke.

"Same here, dear Sonia," Gilbert said as he kissed her cheeks in greeting.

The auburn haired girl was scanning the crowds of Hogwarts and Beauxbatons students with eyes like a hawk. She gave off the impression she was sure she would get picked for Champion and was searching the crowd of students for her competition. As her eyes flew over the students she suddenly froze when she saw a certain green haired Slytherin. For a moment, she looked just as surprised Alex, then her astonishment was wiped away by a wicked smile that spread across her face.

" _Hello,"_ she mouthed at Alex and waved at him, her fingers wiggling.

A soft gasp was heard from Alex and Sam was quick to step in front of her brother and glare at the girl along with T.J. Mallory flicked a peace sign at the girl, which didn't mean something as innocent as that for the Irish. Magnus flashed her a similar rude expression with absolutely no regret.

"Let's kill her," T.J said. The others nodded and kept glaring at the girl's back.

"I know where we can hide the body," Mallory said.

A nice, warm ball of feelings rose in Alex's chest when he saw his friends try and defend him like that. Maybe he should be more concerned his friends were prepared to commit murder and kill a girl then didn't even know the name of, but after seeing Helga again so suddenly it made him feel safe.

The three schools were lead inside the Hall of the Slain for dinner. The small tables that littered the room where students from all different houses could sit were now removed. In their place were the long House tables from the entrance feast along with two extra tables, one for each of the visiting schools. The group of friends had to split up despite how much they didn't want to.

"If she tries anything, give me a signal and I'll shower her in gravy and chicken bones," T.J told Alex right before he went to sit at the Ravenclaw table. The unusual response managed to put a small smile on Alex's face.

Magnus felt bad leaving Alex alone after that girl that had hurt him so much arrived and obviously recognized Alex, even though a part of him knew Alex could easily give her hell. Still, he couldn't help but worry, though Sam and Mallory standing by Alex's sides like his own personal body guards helped him calm down.

Once everyone was seated in their tables and the chatter in the Hall had calmed down, Headmaster Odin stood up.

"I believe I'm talking for all students in Hogwarts when I say we are all very happy to have the students and Headmasters of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Durmstrang Institute here with us tonight."

 _We could do with one less student,_ Magnus couldn't help at thinking, eyeing the Durmstrang girl with undisguised dislike.

"As you all know very well, our fellow magical schools that are grassing us with their presence today," Magnus huffed and rolled his eyes, glaring at the girl again, "are here because of the Triwizard Tournament, which our school will host this year."

"Now, I'm sure you're all very curious as to who will be the Champions that will represent each school," Headmaster Odin continued. "Those wishing to bring honor to their school and represent it as a Champion must be seventeen or older. Anyone younger will not be permited to enter their name."

Headmaster Gilbert stood up and continued from where Headmaster Odin had left off. "Those of age wishing to enter as Champion must write their name and their school clearly on a piece of parchment."

Headmistress Sonia stood up and picked up from where her fellow wizard left off. "The potential Champions will have from the end of tonight's dinner until the start of tomorrow's feast to enter their name in the Goblet of Fire."

As if on cue, a large chest that had been placed in front of the teacher's table burst open. Blue flames erupted from inside, making every students in the Hall gasp in surprise. Once the flames calmed down, a beautifully sculptured goblet was seen hovering of the chest. Covered in gold, only the students sitting the closest to the teacher's table were able to make out the scenes depicted on it. The valuable stones set about an inch under it lid gleamed in the lights of the Hall. Flames burned inside it, the bright fire dancing dazzlingly.

The entire Hall applauded loudly, amazed by the sight they just witnessed. Dinner was served once the students finally calmed down. Food from each different country served. Throughout the entire dinner students were asking each other if they would enter their names in the Goblet of Fire or who they thought would be picked.

/

Magnus, Alex, T.J, Mallory and Sam were huddled together near the entrance of the Hall of the Slain. They had arranged to meet there before breakfast to enter their names.

"So who will go first?" Mallory asked, holding her own piece of parchment between her fingers.

"Can I?" T.J asked enthusiastically. Given his love for Quidditch, he had been hyped about the Triwizard tournament since the get go. He was a hundred percent ready to support whoever the Hogwarts Champion was, even if it wasn't him.

"Go ahead."

T.J walked to the Goblet of Fire confidently and let his parchment fall in the fire. The fire spiked up, turning momentarily blue before changing back to its warm orange.

One by one, they all put their names in the Goblet. Magnus felt self-conscious as he put in his. He knew very well there was no chance he'd be chosen and being seen entering his name by all these people made him feel awkward, even though he knew everyone over seventeen would be entering as well and only three of them would be chosen from all schools.

All of his friends seemed like better options than him, though if he had to bet on whom, his money would either go to Sam or Alex. Those siblings could kick some serious ass.

The flames were blue again as Alex was entering her name when that girl showed up. She was no longer wearing her fur coat but her heavy boots clicked against the stone hallway.

"Well, if it isn't Alexander. How nice seeing you here, how are you?" The girl's accent wasn't nearly as thick as the one of her Headmistress but it was still very obviously there. Despite her words being kind, there was a very obvious tone in her voice that let anyone within earshot understand she meant them in the least kind way possible. She might as well have said "How are you? I hope you're dying".

Alex went pale when she saw the girl standing behind her, hips cocked to the side and a smug expression of her face. "Go away, Helga," Alex said sharply and tried to leave. She had absolutely no interest in talking to Helga again – she'd left her behind when she left Durmstrang and her parents' house and had made a happier life for herself at Hogwarts. Helga had no right coming back in her life and messing things up.

"My, is that how you speak to your old best friend?" Helga spoke in a mock hurt voice, pouting at Alex like she hadn't made her last months in Durmstrang hell on earth. She dropped the innocent tone when she went on talking. "Now I can see why you never had any friends at school. It surprises me you have any here. Well," she laughed, a sound that should have sounded nice but instead sounded like nails scratching a chalkboard, "it surprises me that you are even here. I was expecting to see you in some freakshow, not Hogwarts of all places."

Alex felt herself get angrier and angrier. Her fingers and her joints were tingling with energy and she wanted nothing else but to punch Helga in the face and break her pretty little nose. She took a deep breath through her nose and willed herself to calm down. Helga wanted her to react and she wouldn't give her the joy of knowing she got under her skin. "I told you to go away. I don't want to talk to you."

"Aw, don't be like that. I just wanted to enter as Champion and see the competition." Alex clenched her fists, trying not to do something she would regret. _That stupid cow has the nerve to act like she's the victim here._ "But," Helga kept going, "if all Hogwarts has to offer is people like _you_ and terrorists, I'm pretty sure it'll be an easy win for me."

Gasps were heard and Sam went pale. If Alex was mad before she was _furious_ now. How dare she talk like that about Sam? Sam, who had treated her like family and made her realize the word could mean something other than pain, Sam who was brave and selfless and ambitious and an absolute _queen._ Helga wasn't good enough to clean the mud off Sam's shoes. _Your problem's with me bitch, leave Sam out of it._

"What makes you think you'll even be Champion?" Alex snapped at Helga, her voice as sharp as a knife.

Helga laughed. "You and I both know I'm one of the best students in Durmstrang and the Quidditch team's best player. Who do you _think_ would be Champion?"

"Hopefully not Bitch MacBitchson," Magnus snarled under his breath. Or it was supposed to be under his breath but he said it loudly and everybody heard him. Including the bitch in question, who stared at him with the most offended expression Magnus had ever seen.

She quickly composed herself before speaking, her attention now a hundred percent on Magnus. "And who are you?"

"I'm Magnus Chase," he said confidently. He was so angry at this girl for what she had done to Alex and how she was talking to her and his friends right now that he didn't pay any attention to the fact there were students gathered around them watching what was happening. "I'm Alex's friend and if you're really that confident you'll be Champion then just put your bloody name in the Goblet and leave because I think seeing a Troll in person is scaring some of the younger students."

As per teenage fashion, the crowd of students broke out into a loud chorus of "Ohhhhh!" Helga was red in the face, obviously furious. Magnus felt so proud of himself as he watched her walk up to the Goblet with her nose held high, ignoring the cacophony the students were creating. She dropped her name in the fire and turned around, walking straight into Alex and knocking her off her feet as she made her way to the Hall of the Slain.

"I'll see you and your little friends later, Alexander," she said to Alex over her shoulder, a smirk on her lips.

A hand was offered to Alex. "Are you okay?" the person asked in a distinctively French accent and Alex recognized him as the tall boy from Beauxbatons with the crazy curls (he wasn't wearing the stupid hat any more, thank goodness).

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." But even as she said that, Alex was glaring daggers, knives, swords and every other sharp object at Helga's back. "Thank you."

"It's okay. I didn't see everything, but that was really rude of her. If she wants to be a Champion she shouldn't act like that." The boy seemed to realize how angry he sounded and he quickly apologized. "Sorry for that."

"Raphael!" A boy with dirty blonde hair stood by the entrance to the Hall of the Slain and waved at Raphael. "Come on!"

"J'arrive, Louis!" Raphael called out to the other boy. "I hope I'll see you around," he told Alex before putting his name in the Goblet and running to the other boy. They intertwined their fingers and walked into the Hall of the Slain.

"You know what I said about killing her?" T.J said. "I take it back. Let's torture her, it'll make the suffering last longer."

The groups of friends chose to ignore T.J's violent suggestion and simply nodded. They were already making lists of potential punishments.

/

The day went by as slow as a snail for every student at Hogwarts, but finally the time had arrived when they would learn who would be Champions. The students poured into the great Hall, for once immediately sitting at their tables. The food of the Halloween feast was served and students eat in between talking among themselves lively. The air was filled with chattering as the last friendly dares were made about who would represent each school.

As dinner was finishing, Headmaster Odin stood up from his seat. He hit his Goblet with his spoon and a loud, crisp sound was made, amplified by magic. Everybody stopped talking at once and turned to look at him.

"My dear students," he began, "I am sure you are all excited to learn who will be the three brave fellows to represent each of our schools in the Triwizard Tournament." The Hall burst into applause as everybody showed the Headmaster their agreement. Odin smiled before continuing. "I assume you would prefer get to the point, as you youngsters say, so let's see who have been chosen by the Goblet of Fire. I'm curious to find out myself."

Applause filled the Hall once more, accompanied by howls and even cat-whistles. The chest with the Goblet of Fire was levitated on top of the small stage set in front of the teacher's table. Headmaster Gilbert stepped forward. He took the Goblet in his hands and held it steadily.

"Beauxbatons Academy of Magic!" He bellowed in a clear voice. The Goblet's small orange flames burst to the ceiling, turning into a vibrant, almost blinding blue. A single piece of parchment floated inside the fire, not one corner of it scorched by the heat.

As the fire quelled, the paper floated gently onto Headmaster Gilbert's hand. The entire Hall was watching him with bated breath as he unfolded the paper and read the name it had written on it plain and clear.

"Raphael Beaumont!"

The clapping inside the Hall of the Slain sounded like a thunderstorm as Raphael, the tall boy with the dark eyes that helped up Alex yesterday stood up. The applause only increased the closer he got to the stage, his school being by far the loudest. He made his way to the stage with his shoulders pushed back and eyes looking straight ahead, but he was obviously overthinking it – he walked like a person who put too much thought into every step and he clearly felt the eyes of everyone in the room on his back.

Raphael stood next to his Headmaster as Headmistress Sonia stepped forward. She took the Goblet in her strong hands and with the boldness and certainty of a commander howled, "Durmstrang Institute!"

Flames exploded out of the Goblet once more, tall and mesmerizing. The only thing that was heard in the dining hall as the piece of parchment floated down to her hands were quiet whispers. Unfolding the parchment with steady hands, she read in a booming voice.

"Helga Leifsson!"

Applause filled the Hall once more, but Alex and his friends refused to take any part in it. Helga stood up and walked to the stage with the air of certainty and elegance of a model, not once faltering in her step or looking scared, nose held high.

"Whoever is chosen from Hogwarts better kick her ass," Alex grumbled, stabbing his meat with his spoon and imagining he was digging the piece of cutlery into Helga's flesh.

Last but not least, Headmaster Odin stepped forward and cupped the Goblet in his hands, old and wrinkled head steady with years' worth of experience. In a voice so loud you would have never thought he was capable of making, he shouted, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy!"

The flames raged high and powerful, showering the students in their dazzling light. The piece of parchment floated inside the flames like one of the paper boats Magnus and his mum would make and put in a lake. The parchment drifted down to Odin's hands and he unfolded it carefully. He read loud and clear, leaving no one in the room a doubt about the name he uttered.

"Magnus Chase!"

Magnus suddenly felt like he was underwater. He knew there was sound, he knew the other students were clapping for him to get up and go join the Champions on the stage, but it all felt like it was happening too far away. It wasn't really him, the Goblet couldn't have picked out his name out of all these talented people. Yet even as he thought all that, as much as he couldn't believe, people from his table were already pushing him to get up.

He somehow found himself on his feet, moving in a daze towards the stage. He wished he was walking as confidently as Raphael or at least as elegantly as that cow Helga, but he knew he must have looked pathetic next to them.

As the metaphorical water from his ear cleaned, the sound of applause didn't seem to come from miles away. He realized it was his four friends who were cheering and clapping the loudest, edging him on by chanting his name like Mallory ("Magnus! Magnus! Magnus!") or saying kind of inappropriate things like T.J (Kick their asses, Magnus! #$% them!).

His eyes drifted to Alex, who might have been the single loudest person in the entire room. He had one leg up on the table, trying to climb on it but being held back by Sam, who was shouting for him just as loudly. One of Alex's hands was cupped around his mouth as a megaphone and his other fist was pumping in the air as he yelled combinations of Mallory's and T.J's encouragements.

"Go get 'em, Magnus! Woo hoo!" He yelled passionately, scaring a few of the other Slytherins.

Magnus smiled to himself as he made the last few steps to the stage, now walking with his head held high in pride.

Each Headmaster took their Champion by the hand and raised their joined hands in the air as Odin made the final announcement of the night.

"My dear students, I present to you the Triwizard Tournament Champions!"

* * *

 **Have I told you I love writing shit-talking? Because I do.**

 **Get ready, because I have quite a few things prepared for you :3**


	17. Space Ranger Partners

Hey! So this chapter was supposed to have the first task as well but I split it because it became way too big…. by that I mean over 13 thousand words, so yeah. Still, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the fact that this fic will probably bigger than 20 chapters.

* * *

The reveal of the three Champions concluded the dinner and students of both Hogwarts and the visiting schools made their way to their rooms as quickly as possible to get changed into their costumes for the Hufflepuff Horror Party. Magnus as well as the other two Champions left the Hall of the slain through the back door so they would get swarmed by the students.

Helga had left as soon as they were in the hallway, but Raphael stayed behind to speak to Magnus.

"I'm Raphael," the boy introduced himself, offering a hand to Magnus. He seemed to realize that he didn't really need to say his name since everybody in the Hall of the Slain had already heard and he blushed. "Ah, but I guess you heard my name already when they called me up."

Magnus took Raphael's hand and smiled at the other boy. "Yeah, I did. I'm Magnus, but I guess you already know that."

The French boy laughed. "It's an honor to compete in the Tournament with you, mon ami." He seemed to realize something he said too late again and became all flustered again. For someone who looked so confident he surely acted awkward. "Ah, can I call you that? Friend?"

Magnus nodded. "Sure." They turned around a corner and kept walking together since the Beauxbatons students stayed in the same general direction the Hufflepuff common room was in. "I guess I'm happy to compete with you too, though I'm still in shock."

The Beauxbatons Champion laughed again. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm excited and – how you say?- scared out of my brain at the same time."

"Mind," Magnus corrected. "And yeah, me too. I'm not even sure _why_ I got picked!" Magnus sighed, running a hand through his hair. "But I guess I can't really claim there was an error in the Goblet, huh?"

"Afraid not, mon ami. You seem like a good person, though? Maybe that's why?" Raphael might have been trying to help but he didn't sound very convinced himself.

"You can't think of something better, huh?" Magnus deadpanned.

"No, I don't know you enough yet," the boy admitted. They neared a corner in the hallway and Raphael stopped walking. "I should go get dressed. See you at the party!"

Magnus was one of the last people to come back to the Hufflepuff common room and he was immediately swarmed by other students, all of the excited to congratulate the member of their house that had been picked as Champion. After a heck of a lot of "Congrats, mate!" and pats on the back – some people even asked him if he wanted to go to the Yule Ball with them- Magnus managed to get into his room and get into his costume.

Needless to say, it took him quite some time to get that thing on.

 _It looks so much simpler on the show,_ Magnus couldn't help thinking as he managed to pull one of the leg pieces on. He let himself glance at the mirror for a moment and he cursed the friends he had. Like, yeah, he really wanted to dress up as the Paladins of Voltron, but did they have to give him the _blue_ suit?

When he arrived at the Hall of the Slain his friends were waiting outside for him in all their primary-color glory.

"Magnus! Congratulations!" T.J yelled as he threw himself at Magnus and hugged him."I can't believe you were chosen as Champion!"

"Yeah, I can't either," Magnus managed to choke out from T.J's tight hug. "T.J, you're crushing my ribcage."

T.J let go at once. "Oops, sorry." He was the green Paladin and the color suited him well.

Just as the pressure from T.J's hug of doom disappeared, Mallory punched him in the shoulder (which was perfectly in character for her and really out of character for someone dressed as the kind yellow Paladin.)

"Ow, what was that for?"

"Halfborn told me to do it. He asked me to contact him immediately after dinner to tell him who's Champion and he almost didn't believe me when I told him. He also said, and I quote," Mallory cleared her throat and spoke in a ridiculously deep voice, "'Alright! My boy's gonna kick some ass!'"

"Or have my ass kicked, Magnus muttered.

"Hey, don't be like that!" Alex said. "You're totally going to kick Helga's ass. It'll be easy." Alex smirked and Magnus tried to phantom how he looked this good in red (or any other color for that matter).

And speaking about color, Magnus was this close to hitting his head against a table when they were discussing which one of them should get which color and he ended up with blue and Alex with red. _Blue_ and _red._ They were pretty much cosplaying Klance! Magnus regretted all the fanfiction he had read at that moment.

"I'll have to agree with my brother," Sam said, looking great in her black Paladin suit. "You'll wipe the floor with that girl, I'm sure you can do it."

After how she had treated Alex and how he talked about Sam, Magnus really wanted to beat her to the ground, and he'd try, but whether he succeeded was a different thing.

"Anyway, enough talking, let's go party!" T.J dragged his friends inside the Hall of the Slain and they immediately felt special. This year's theme was space and they fit right in with their Defenders-of-the-Universe costumes.

The sky was clear tonight and the enchantment on the ceiling of the Hall was expanded to the rest of the walls so it looked as if you were in the middle of space. The dance floor was enchanted so it had zero gravity and who ever stepped inside would flow around (considering they stayed inside the dance floor. They would just fall down if they floated too far out.) Little planets flew above the students heads and a lot of people were trying to catch one of them.

The buffet table was decorated similarly, with lots of edible glitter, a milky-way looking punch and cupcakes made to look like planets (a kid dressed as a monster was having way too much fun biting into one that looked like the earth). Magnus saw Raphael and the boy with the dirty blonde hair from yesterday that must have been Raphael's boyfriend at the buffet table. He probably was his boyfriend considering they were dressed like Ladybug and Chat Noir and Raphael, who was dressed as Ladybug, was trying to get the other boy – Louis – to eat one of the star-shaped cookies.

"Non, I'm not eating that," Magnus heard Louis say. "It has too much glitter."

"S'il vou plait, mon cher. I promise it's good." Raphael's puppy eyes must be really good because Luis blushed and gave in.

"I hate you sometimes," the blonde grumbled around the cookie.

"I know," Raphael smirked and kissed him on the cheek.

Magnus smiled a little as he saw the scene in front of him. He was stuck in between being glad for the two Beauxbatons students for being happy together and feeling jealous he couldn't have the same with Alex.

 _Well, maybe you would if you gave it a try and asked him out,_ one half of his brain said.

 _But he'll probably reject you and then you won't be friends like before,_ the other half of his brain said.

 _Weren't you the one who told Conall that it wouldn't happen like that if he was mature about it? Follow your own advise, you little piece of-_

Magnus was snapped out of his weird mental fight by Alex. The Red Paladin grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the dance floor.

"Come on, I want to try out the zero gravity!" Alex said, a big smile on his face and Magnus felt those damned butterflies in his stomach. Should he go and see a doctor for that? Maybe he could get them removed.

"Alex, I'll get dizzy, you know that. Why aren't you dragging T.J with you?" Magnus wouldn't get dizzy (hopefully), that was a blatant lie, but his face was heating up so rapidly it would soon rival Alex's suit in color.

"Because you're my space ranger partner," he said with a cheeky grin. Magnus's face turned even redder, if that was possible, and he cursed himself once more for all that fanfiction.

He scowled at Alex. "I hate you."

Alex smiled. Damn butterflies. "I know."

The two of them drifted into the air the moment they set foot on the dance floor. Magnus had flew on a broom before, but simply floating on your own, with no clue how to move properly and with no feeling of control was something else entirely. Students bounced around him as if they were in one of those bouncing castles for children's parties. Alex was still holding Magnus's hand and he didn't tell him to let go.

They moved their arms around hopelessly, trying to figure out how they were supposed to move. After some fidgeting about and bumping into other people who were equally as lost as them, they figured out that they simply needed to shift their weight around to move.

"Hey, Magnus!" Alex said as he (unfortunately) let go of Magnus's hand. "Look at this!" He rocked back and forth a bit before doing a somersault in the air.

"Oh, nice! Okay, check this out." Magnus shifted his weight around a bit until he was falling to the ground as if he was in a pool and diving to the bottom. He bent his legs and kicked as hard as he could, sending himself flying to the ceiling.

Alex was about to do another trick when a student bumped into his back, sending him crushing into the person in front of him. And who was that person?

Magnus. Because his luck is rotten and apparently someone enjoys seeing him suffer.

Alex was pressed flush against Magnus's chest. Magnus had put his hands in front of him in the few seconds before Alex hit him and he ended up holding onto the other. Their faces mere centimeters apart and they could feel each other's breaths on their lips when they breathed. Maybe it was just Magnus's imagination but he could swear Alex's cheeks were red.

Magnus wasn't sure if he was breathing anymore. He wasn't sure if anything was happening anymore. Was he still alive, was his heart still beating, was there still people around him? The world could have ended by a radioactive explosion at that moment and he honestly wouldn't have noticed.

There was something mesmerizing about Alex eyes- hell, about his whole being! He could entrance Magnus by doing absolutely nothing. And now, with him so close, Magnus could think about anything else, he could see or hear anything else and he didn't really care about that either. All he could see, smell and feel was Alex and he would gladly drown in that feeling.

The momentum of the student that bumped into Alex caused them to start moving backwards and neither of them noticed when they had drifted too close to the dance floor's edge. The moment their bodies floated outside of the zero gravity zone they came crushing to the ground.

"OW!"

Alex landed on top of Magnus and wow, if he thought just being so close to him was overwhelming actually feeling his weight on him was something else entirely.

He absentmindedly realized that people were staring at them. Even when you're a wizard you don't see two people dressed as your OTP on top of each other in a public space like in a bad romcom. Magnus would admit he had thought of Alex on top of him like this before (he's a teenage boy, okay, cut him some slack), but so many people watching them was never involved in his fantasies.

As wonderful as it was to let everything else disappear and pay attention only to Alex, the moment had to end. Alex got off him quickly, moving almost like an acrobat. "Sorry," he muttered, that weird red hue still on his cheeks as he offered Magnus a hand to get up. Magnus took it, feeling that weird spark of electricity run through his spine, both exhilarating and frightening at the same time.

"It's okay, it was an accident," Magnus replied. He realized a moment too late he hadn't let go of Alex hand and he swiftly pulled back his hand, resting it on his bayard at his hip.

"Ah, how adorable," Magnus heard a voice say behind him and he knew exactly who it was before turning around. The look of _unadulterated_ loathing on Alex's face and that heavy accent were enough clues.

"What do you want?" Alex asked as Magnus turned around. The Durmstrang Champion was dressed as the Red Queen and Magnus could imagine her very easily commanding her soldiers to cut off someone's head. The top of her dress had a sweetheart neckline (the only sweet thing about that girl) and her black, white and red skirt swept the floor. There was a crown on her head and Magnus wanted to make her eat it.

"Now, why are you being so tense with me, Alexander?" Magnus saw Alex flinch next to him when his full name was mentioned, but he kept looking at Helga with the same steely glare. "I thought we had a history together."

"That's exactly why, bitch." Alex was practically growling at her at this point and Magnus was glad that the bayard at his hip couldn't turn into an actual sword. He would probably skewer Helga without hesitation and Magnus would let him do it.

"Tch, thc, didn't your parents teach you shouldn't talk like that? How are you going to get yourself a girlfriend if you talk to them so badly." Helga shot a glance to Magnus and took him in from head to toe. Having her eyes on him made his spine tingle, but not in the same way Alex's did. He didn't feel warm and nauseous in a good way but more like he had been dumped in a pool of ice cold water and he was definitely nauseous not in a good way. "But maybe you have your sights set on something else."

Alex's eyes darkened. His voice was cold when he spoke. "If you don't have something to say, leave now."

"I just wanted to meet my competition, is that so bad?" Helga had that stupid innocent look on her face and Magnus wanted to slap it off. "But well, I guess I was right when I said this is going to be an easy win. If the most capable to be Hogwarts Champion is a Hufflepuff I can imagine how useless everyone else must be."

"And what's that supposed to mean, your royal ugliness?" Magnus snapped at her. If there was one thing he hated were those stupid house stereotypes. Gryffindors are knights in shining armor, Slytherins are evil, Ravenclaws are nerds, Hufflepuffs were pushovers.

"Hufflepuff is the weakest house," Helga said matter-of-factly. "It's common knowledge."

Magnus crossed his arms over his chest and looked her up and down. "And I assume you're the best Durmstrang has to offer, huh? Not very impressive." Helga glared at him, obviously angry and it made Magnus feel satisfied. "I suppose I might come in second place after the Beauxbatons Champion, he seemed like good competition. However, I have no doubt I can beat your sorry ass to the _ground_."

A group of students had gathered around them again to watch the drama and they ohhhed after what Magnus said. Helga didn't seem to like people being on the side of her opponent, but she kept her confident demeanor despite the deepening wrinkle between her brows showing that she was getting angrier and angrier.

"My my, is that how a Hogwarts student speaks to a lady?" She asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. "And here I thought the British were meant to be gentlemen."

Magnus nodded his head and spoke in the most polite voice he had, the kind you use on grandmothers and school principals. "Oh, we are, I'm just not seeing any ladies to be polite to. I didn't know trashcans had a gender."

The students around them ohhhed again and egged the two Champions on because they were enjoying the show. Helga's face turned red with anger as the students laughed at the insult Magnus hurled at her. Every instinct Magnus had was telling him to flee when he saw the glare Helga was sending him. _I will crush you,_ her eyes seemed to say.

She closed the distance between them and got all up in his face. Magnus could see every fleck of her make-up and smell her sickly sweet perfume.

"I could show you how much better I am than you right now, but to be honest, it's not worth the hassle," she snarled at him, her voice sounding almost like the hiss of a snake. "I'll just save my strength so I can mop the floor with your face in the first task even harder."

Magnus smiled at her. "You can try, but the only thing they'll clean off the floor will be your blood."

Helga walked away, throwing her head over her shoulder. A much shorter girl with a blonde pageboy haircut dressed like Alice followed her, saying something in Swedish that Magnus didn't understand.

Magnus was still looking at Helga leaving and he was cut by surprise when T.J threw himself at him, almost falling over (he had to tell him not to do that anymore). T.J had an arm around his shoulder and was squeezing him hard, possible-break-his-bones hard. Magnus's heart was still beating like a drum after the conformation, adrenaline making his whole body buzz.

"You tell her! Man, I didn't know you had it in you to speak like that!" T.J as he hugged him.

Magnus smiled at his friends. "I've spent so much time around you guys you've probably rubbed off on me."

Alex pumped a fist in the air. "Yes! I knew I was a good influence." They all laughed together, loud and happy.

"Just wait till the first task before you kill her," Mallory said with a murderous glint in her eyes. She could be very competitive. "Make sure to kick her butt, Magnus!"

/

The school was abuzz with preparations for the first task in the coming weeks. Hunding, the Keeper of the school grounds, could be seen constantly running up and down the school, trying to get everything ready on time. Rumors about what the task might be were spreading through the student body like a virus. A day didn't pass by without someone claiming they had caught a glimpse of what the task might be. Magnus paid attention to those rumors at first but it quickly turned out they were little more than scenarios the students would make up.

At diner the day before the first task the Headmasters of the three schools gave speeches about the oncoming competition and how important fair play was (even if cheating was practically a tradition of the tournament). Magnus knew he should probably pay attention to what they were saying, but he couldn't. He kept thinking of the Triwizard Tournament back at second year, all the dangerous, exciting tasks the Champions went through and how cool they all looked to his twelve-year-old eyes.

Now he could stop thinking that _he_ was supposed to do those things tomorrow, that his friends, his entire school, hell, everyone who watched the Tournament from their homes and supported Hogwarts, they all wanted him to win. Sure, his magic was far from bad and he was could think on his feet, but he was by far the least athletic of the three Champions. He would probably topple over if they asked them to run and would make a fool of himself in front of everyone who watched the Tournament and disappoint his friends and the entire school and oh my god, what had he gotten himself into?

His heart thumped like a drum from anxiousness and he didn't hear his friends talking to him.

"Magnus? Magnus, are you alright?" Sam asked from across their round table.

"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Everything Magnus was thinking was somehow obvious in his voice and none of his friends missed it.

"Yeah, right," Alex rolled her eyes. "Magnus, what's wrong?"

"I'm just-" Magnus groans, running his hands through his hair and making it 110% more messy. "I'm nervous about tomorrow. Actually no, not nervous, I'm scared shitless."

There was a second of uncomfortable silence as the rest of the group wondered what to do to cheer up Magnus, who looked like he was at the verge of pulling his hair out. They kept sending each other panicked glances like _"do something!"._

Mallory was the one who finally spoke up. "Hey, it's all going to be alright, Magnus. It's school competition, even if half the wizarding world watches it, I'm sure nothing bad will happen to you."

"Actually , people have died at the Triwizard Tournament before," T.J piped in. Mallory and Sam immediately glared at him and Alex elbowed him in the side. _"Not helping,"_ she mouthed at him.

"BUT that was a long time ago, so there's no way it'll happen now!" T.J blurted out in attempts to correct his mistake. It didn't seem to do much since Magnus still looked anxious. Unbeknown to his friends, it wasn't just T.J's comment about death that had Magnus almost hitting his head on the table, but also that little tidbit about half the wizarding world watching the Tournament. _Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god._

"Magnus," Sam said calmly, snapping Magnus out of his thoughts with her soothing voice. "Everything is going to be alright. I'm sure you'll do great."

Before Magnus was able to say anything, tell them that it was exactly those expectations that were making him jittery, the bell rang signaling the end of dinner. All the students got up and headed to their respective common rooms and dormitories for the night. Magnus was following the flow of students through the halls when a hand grabbed him by the wrist.

Surprised, his eyes went up from the hand holding him to see Alex looking at him with an unreadable expression.

"Can I talk to you for a bit?" she asked him. Magnus nodded and she pulled him aside, away from the buzzing crowd of students.

Alex finally let go of his hand when they turned a corner and found themselves in a quiet hallway. Magnus could see his History classroom down the hall.

"What is it?" he asked Alex, curious about what it was she wanted to tell him.

Alex took a slow breath before talking. She seemed unsure, for some reason, but she still spoke with the same confidence in her voice that was so characteristically Alex. "It's just," she started, making wide gestures with her hands, her face as expressive as ever. She had that little furrow between her brows like every time she had something to say but couldn't find the right words. "I know this will sound bad, and it probably won't help any, but try to calm down about tomorrow."

"Yeah, because why wouldn't you be calm when you're about to take place in a dangerous competition hundreds of people want you to win but you know you will definitely lose and disappoint them all?" Magnus snapped at Alex, voice cold and his tone so similar to when he talked with Helga. He immediately regretted how he talked the moment he spoke the last word and quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry."

Alex gave him a small smile and took a step closer, letting her hand rest on Magnus's shoulder in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. "No, I get it, you're nervous. But it will be fine. Just try your best and give it your all and whatever happens happens." Alex and Sam might not look alike but they had some things in common and how soothing or persuasive they could be was definitely one of them.

"If you don't like the idea of people watching everything you do, just try and ignore them or think of one of us, we'll all be cheering you on. Just," her voice broke Magnus felt her hand on his shoulder squeezing him. Felling her presence there reassured him. For Alex, the feeling of Magnus's body under her hand helped quell all the worries and fears that were buzzing around her head all day. "Try not to get hurt, alright?"

"Aw, you're worried about me?" Magnus said in a jokingly in an attempt to lighten the mood. The thought that Alex was worried about him both made him feel a bit guilty and sent a warm feeling cursing through his body.

"Well, duh, of course I am!" Alex said matter-of-factly. She spent so much time lately as the first task drew nearer trying to calm down her worries for Magnus that his question sounded stupid to her. _I've stayed up late worrying about you, you doofus!_ "Someone will have to take care of your sorry ass if you get hurt and I'm in no mood to feed you every meal or help you get dressed."

As humorous as he tone was, it was obvious to both parties just how worried she was. It wasn't so much that she wasn't in the mood to care for an injured Magnus but that she would much rather she had no reason to do that in the first place.

"I'll not to get hurt and inconvenience you then," Magnus said, barely holding back his chuckles.

"You better," Alex answered in a similar way, smile big on her face.

There was a moment of silence, Alex's hand hovered over Magnus's shoulder and her expression seemed conflicted, as if she couldn't decided whether she should do something or not.

"In case I don't see you before the task tomorrow," she said quietly, so quietly Magnus wouldn't have heard her if they weren't alone in a quiet hallway.

Then, before he was able to process what was happening, Alex had thrown her arms around his lean frame. She hugged him close, so close their whole bodies were pressed together without an inch of space left between them. She hugged him like they were in a romantic drama and he was about to get on a plane for another country and she would never see him again. He could feel the heat radiating from her body, warm and comforting. Her arms around his body somehow managed to feel both strong and gentle and Magnus had never felt so at home and safe in someone's arms since the last time his mother hugged him.

"Be careful and good luck," she whispered in his ear, her voice soft, something for only the two of them to hear and no one else. Magnus wrapped his arms around her back and buried his face at the crook of her neck.

"I will," he whispered back. The words were spoken like a promise and Magnus couldn't think of something he had ever meant more.

Alex finally let go of him and pulled back, if only just barely. Their faces were so closed they could feel each other's breaths on their lips. If either of them leaned in just a little bit their lips would touch and they'd be kissing. They both wanted to lean in and they both wished the other one would close the distance, but in the end neither one did.

"Goodnight," Alex said in the same quiet voice before turning around and running back to the Slytherin common room, letting Magnus head to his dormitory and get ready for tomorrow's task.

* * *

 **Yes, I love making couples dress up as my other ships. On that note, wHERE IS SEASON TWO OF MIRACULOUS? IT'S BEEN TWELVE YEARS (in** Azgaban **)!**

 **Anyway, next chapter is the First Task and BOI is shit going to go down :3**


	18. First Task

**You know how I said last time that this is a big chapter It's almost 9k. I hope you're happy, people. Anyways, please tell me what you thought of this because it took a lot longer than most chapters and I don't have that much experience with action scenes.**

* * *

When breakfast ended the next day the three Champions were escorted out of the Hall of the Slain to get ready for the task as the rest of the students, teachers and people who had come to see the Tournament headed for the stands. They were almost at the door of a room Magnus hadn't seen before when they noticed Raphael wasn't with them.

"He must have stayed behind," Headmaster Gilbert said with a sigh. "Could you go find him, monsieur Chase?"

"Yes, sir," Manus nodded. He turned around and rushed back to the dining Hall, part of him glad that he got to postpone what he was about to take place in even if it was only a few minutes.

When he turned the corner to the Hall of the Slain he only saw Raphael and Louis there. The problem was that they weren't simply talking, no, they were kissing. And pretty passionately too from what little Magnus managed to see before hiding behind the corner. Louis's arms were wrapped around the other boy's neck, buried in his hair. Raphael held the blonde by the waist and didn't seem to want to let go.

"Just be careful, alright?" Magnus heard Louis say from where he was hidden. Or at least that's what he assumed he said with his limited knowledge of French.

"Oui, oui. Don't worry for me, mon cher, I'll be alright," Raphael said back in a lighthearted tone. There was something in how they spoke to each other that was enough for Magnus to know just how in love they were. The feeling seemed to seep into every word.

"You better be. I don't want to take care of your injured ass."

"Too bad, I'm sure you'd look great as a nurse."

Magnus heard Louis splutter embarrassed and Raphael laugh, possible at his boyfriend's blushing face. Magnus really wanted to sneak a peek to see if Louis was blushing like he thought, but this felt like a private moment and he didn't want to intrude.

"You're an idiot," he heard Louis grumble.

"Oui, but you love me."

There was a moment of silence and Magnus was pretty sure they were kissing again but he didn't turn to look. He already felt weird enough listening in to their conversation.

"Raph," Luis said quietly and Magnus had to strain his ears to hear. "There have been people who died at the Tournament. I know that was a long time ago, but Champions still get injured a lot. The last Beauxbatons Champion broke both her legs. I don't want something to happen to you."

"I know, mon cher. But I promise you to do my best to come back unscratched. Then we can go somewhere together to have a date, what do you say?"

Magnus heard what must have been Louis kissing Raphael on the lips before the blonde spoke again. "Alright. But I'll make you carry me to the top of the astronomy tower as payback for all the worrying you've put me through. I swear I've lost five years of my life because of you."

Raphael laughed. "Alright, I'll give you a piggyback ride." The sound of kissing again. "I should get going, the others must be waiting for me."

Magnus quickly run to the end of the corridor, wanting to pretend he saw (well, heard) none of what just happened. It seemed to work, though he still felt uncomfortable for having eavesdropped on a private moment.

After Magnus arrived with Raphael, the three contestants were each given a uniform for the Task in the colors of their respective school and the school's emblem over their heart. The pants reached Magnus's knees and the sleeves his elbows. Where Raphael's uniform was blue and Helga's red, his was black, with lines in each house's color running down the sides of his legs and arms. It fitted each Champion snugly and it was so light it felt like you weren't wearing something. It was certainly made for running and moving a lot and the realization made Magnus's heart speed up, anxious about what was to come.

Once they came out of the changing rooms wearing their uniforms the three Headmasters went on to explain to them what the task was and what they needed to do to win. The more they explained the harder Magnus's heart beat. His hands got clammy with sweat and he wiped it off on his pants. How Raphael and Helga managed to look so calm he didn't know. Freaking Helga looked so confident, like she knew she could win the Task without breaking a sweat.

After they were done explaining everything to them, Headmaster Gilbert and Headmistress Sonia took Raphael and Helga respectively and headed for each Champion's starting point. Magnus followed Headmaster Odin to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, were a tall tree had small metal handles nailed onto it at odd places, like a weird ladder.

A small object flew close to the Headmaster. It resembled a Snitch, but it was at least three times bigger and made of a translucent material that looked like glass. Magnus recognized it as the wizarding world's version of video cameras; he had seen a lot of reporters that had come to Hogwarts to cover the Tournament have one of those little things hovering over their shoulder.

The flying camera switched from crystal clear to red and Headmaster Odin turned to it and started talking.

"Students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, my dear guests, it is finally time for the first Task of the Triwizard tournament!" Magnus head applause from inside the forest, were he assumed the stands were. "The Task is simple: each Champion will start at a different spot at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, each an equal distance from the center of the forest. The obstacle race that they must compete will not be a normal one, for it will take place near the peaks of the trees."

As Headmaster Odin spoke about the obstacle course, Magnus noticed that the camera switched colors and he remembered how they explained to them how the audience would be able to see what they were doing. The stands were positioned along the obstacle course and magical screens would float in front of them so they could see everything that was happening out of their field of vision. Apparently the floating sphere-resembling cameras had become part of the Tournament some years ago so that the audience could watch even if the task took place somewhere they couldn't see, like inside a lake or a maze. Magnus guessed the changing color meant that pictures of the obstacles were being projected on the screen for the audience to see what was waiting their Champions.

"At the center of the forest is a platform with three bottles on it. Inside each bottle is a scroll containing information on the next task. Each Champion must get one of those bottles. The first to do so will be awarded the most points and the last one the least points. To clear any potential problems, the first to touch a bottle will be registered as the victor of this challenge."

Magnus's stomach twisted into knots when he heard that. He already knew that the fastest one would win but hearing it again made him lose what little confidence he had managed to gather.

 _Well, it involves climbing, right? You're good at that, you can do it._

"However, to get to the platform they must pass the magical creature guarding. And don't think for a second that the obstacle course will be their only hindrance as they race to the finishing line. The Forbidden Forest is home to many creatures, and some might not take kindly to our Champions invading their territory."

Magnus felt little reassurance knowing that the Centaurs wouldn't be an issue. They had agreed to the first Task being in their forest after an agreement was made ensuring that their territory would not be harmed but expanded, as the Headmasters had explained to them. Seeing idiotic humans making fools out of themselves was an added bonus in the Centaurs' eyes.

Still, even without the Centaurs being a threat, there were still many dangerous things lurking in the Forbidden Forest and Magnus would much rather he didn't have to deal with any of them.

"The Champions are free to use magic to assist them in completing the obstacle course as quickly as they can. However, they must not stray outside of the obstacle course and completely let go of the obstacles, so flying over them is strictly prohibited, as is sabotaging another Champion. Doing either of those things will lead to a deduction of points from the Champion in question."

The bitter, cynical part of Magnus corrected what Headmaster Odin had said in his head. _Being caught_ doing any of those things will lead to a loss of points. Cheating was not uncommon in the Tournament by far, in fact it was almost considered standard practice. It was only bad if they caught you in the act, otherwise it was all well and done.

"But," said Headmaster Odin, stressing the word, "I'm sure you'd all rather see the Task than just hear me describe it, so without further ado, let's start!"

Magnus knew that was his cue to get ready, so he stood in front of the tree he needed to climb to get to the obstacle course and held onto one of the metal handles closest to the ground. He let his eyes wander up the tree, noting where each handle was nailed and what spots looked like good footholds and handholds.

"Champions, get ready!" Headmaster Odin, voice loud and booming.

Magnus took a deep breath and held it in, closing his eyes.. _Calm down. This will be fine, you can do this._

"Set!"

Magnus exhaled slowly, opening his eyes and readjusting his grip on the metal handle. He licked his lips nervously as he felt his heart drum loudly, like dramatic music in a moving. It drowned every other sound out, leaving behind only it's steady beat. Magnus took another deep breath and prepared himself for the final signal and-

"GO!"

With a strong kick, Magnus pulled himself off the ground and onto the tree's trunk. He made his way up the tree steadily, though much faster than normally thanks to the metal handles. Even with them, this would probably still be difficult for someone who doesn't know how to climb a tree. Magnus was thankful for all the hours he spent climbing trees in the park and on the camping expeditions he and his mother went on, even if she was always so scared he was going to fall down and get hurt if he went too high.

Now he wasn't afraid he'd fall. He moved up the tree swiftly, only once losing hold of his grip and almost slipping off. He was distantly aware of cheering from somewhere in the woods where the stands were and he was sure his friends were among the loudest. But as loud as that cheering might have been, Magnus paid it no mind and kept climbing, completely focused on the feeling of the tree bark under his shoes and his naked hands.

The tree was much taller than what Magnus had ever climbed before, but he made it to the top, where a wooden platform was waiting for him. He pulled himself on it and took a few deep breaths as he stood up. His hands were throbbing, already reddening from the strain, but he ignored it, feeling much more sure of himself after the climb. _I made it all the way up and didn't fall, mum._

"And it looks like Magnus Chase is the first to climb up the tree!" Magnus heard Professor Thor say, his voice amplified by magic. Apparently he was the announcer for the Triwizard Tournament.

The next tree Magnus needed to get to was about fifteen meters away. Stretching the distance between the two trees was a rope net, held up horizontally by two wires the same way a climbing rock would have been.

 _I have to cross that,_ Magnus realized and prepared himself for what was to come. It would probably be easier to cross that a climbing rock since he could take hold of it much easier. Too easily, in fact, and that realization mad his stomach turn. There was no way this would be that simple.

He took hold of the rope in front of him and put his feet in two of the holes. The net immediately dipped under his weight as gravity tried to pull him down and probably break his bones with the fall. He didn't let that stop him as he moved forward, inching along the net sideways like a crab. He pushed his weight forward in an attempt to gain more balance and made his way across the net as swiftly as he could.

He was hardly more than five meters away from where he started when something collided with him back. He cried out in surprise and flipped his head around to see what that was. His eyes scanned his surroundings frantically as he gripped at the net for dear life. Something hit him again at the left while he was looking towards the right. Then he was hit again at his right leg, the small of his back, straight to his belly. He did his best to move forward despite whatever those things that were hitting him from all directions.

It was only when one of them hit him in the shoulder that he was able to see what it was – a Pixie, its blue skin glistening and its wide eyes mischievous. Magnus felt dread fill his stomach; Pixies were known for picking up people and leaving the at the top of the trees and while he was already high up in the air he had no doubt the Pixies would very gladly pick him up and drop him down.

"And the Pixies are attacking, folks!" Professor Thor said, way too enthusiastic about Magnus being attacked by Pixies. "These mischievous little creatures will be given as much food as they can eat if they manage to knock one of our Champions down so they're giving it their all!"

 _Oh, great. So they get food and I get broken bones. Weee!_

Magnus started moving faster, eager to get to the other platform as quickly as possible. The Headmasters had explained to them before the Task that a charm had been cast so that the magical creatures attacking them wouldn't be able to follow them once they finished the obstacle. Magnus could probably hold back the Pixies if he was able to reach his wand in the pocket of his pants, but the pocket had a zipper and he didn't want to risk hanging from the net with one hand when manic Pixies were attacking him from all angles.

He was about to grab hold of the net again as he moved forward, only a couple of meters from the platform, when the Pixies attacked again. One hit his arm that wasn't holding the net, knocking it back, and another took advantage of his surprised yelp to hit his other hand. His grip on the net had loosened by shock when the first Pixie hit him and the second one caused him to lose his grasp on the net completely.

He fell backwards, completely weight less for one horrible moment. His heart seemed to have stopped beating, like when you missed a step on the stairs and had a miniature heart attack. Except now he would probably break all his bones with the fall.

"Oh no! It seems like the Hogwarts Champion has been knocked off!"

In a rush of I-don't-want-to-die energy, Magnus grasped at the net closer to his hands as he fell. His fall stopped abruptly and Magnus let out a cry of pain as his shoulder almost popped out of its place due to his momentum. The happy shrilling noises of the Pixies stopped when they realized he hadn't fallen off and despite the pain in his shoulder, Magnus moved quickly, taking hold of the net with his other hand.

"But no! He managed to hold on!" Magnus heard applause somewhere in the distance but he was too busy trying to hang onto the net as the Pixies attacked him ferociously.

One hit him in the neck and he choked as he tried to breathe. Another one tried to hit him in the groin but (thankfully) missed when moved forward. He was hanging of the net like Tarzan and his arms were already burning from the strain of holding all his weight. He paid it no mind and moved forward as quickly as he could. He had to make it to the other side before he lost his grip on the net and fell and before the Pixies managed to knock him off again.

The closest he got to the platform the angrier the Pixies became, more desperate to make him fall. They concentrated their attacks on his arms and a few caught him by the shirt and started pulling him down. Magnus hands felt like they were being ripped off and it was a miracle he was still hanging there.

The platform was now only two meters away. The Pixies had resorted to biting him and Magnus bit his lip as he moved forward to stop himself from yelling. One hand in front of the other and the platform was now one meter away. The pixies were pulling him by the foot. Magnus throws one arm on the platform and uses everything in him to hold on. The Pixies manage to pull off his left shoe but Magnus puts all his strength in his arms and manages to hurl his torso on the platform.

He pulls himself up straight, taking a deep breath. The Pixies are trying to get to him but it's like they're hitting against a glass window.

"And Magnus Chase has made it, ladies and gentleman! Helga Leifsson is only slightly ahead and Raphael Beaumont has only a few meters to go till he reaches the end of the first obstacle!"

As much as Magnus lungs and muscles heart from hanging off the net like an ape, he pushed on and turned to see what the next obstacle was. There was no way he was gonna lose to Helga.

In front of him, some twenty meters away, was the next platform Magnus needed to get to. It wasn't perfectly straight ahead, though considering the route was made based on the already existing trees, it made sense it wouldn't be. Stretching between the two platforms was a wire, pulled taut between the two trees. Another wire run parallel to the first two meters above it. From it fell a thick rope hanging from a metal circle, probably so it would move easier on the wire.

He gets his wand out of his pocket and with his left hand casts a Sticking Charm on his left hand. He holds his wand with his left hand and shakes it to see if his idea worked. The wand didn't fall or budge but stayed stuck to his palm.

Confidents that he won't lose his wand, he takes the rope into his hands and carefully set a foot onto the rope. He hugged it tightly as he put one foot in front of the other. His body swayed from side to side and he couldn't find his balance easily. The available surface under his legs had suddenly gone from a wide platform to a thin wire and Magnus didn't know the first thing about walking a tightwire. He recalled how acrobats would extend their arms at either side of their body to keep the balance, but he felt too scared to let go of the rope.

Slowly at first, but then more steadily, he took a few steps on the wire. He tried to go faster after a couple of steps but he leaned dangerously far to the side. The rope, as helpful as it might be to hold on, would drag behind his body and it did little to help him move forward.

"ATTACK!"

 _Of-fucking-course._ A rain of missiles came hurling towards Magnus. An arrow came zipping right by his cheek and it barely missed him. Another object him in the shin and bounced off. Magnus looked down (very bad decision when you're twenty meters up in the air) and saw a heard of Centaurs looking up at him, bows and small catapults out.

 _Are you kidding me?_

"Oh, we might have forgot to mention this, but the Centaurs were generous enough to agree to help us in the first Task!"

"Oh, come on!" Magnus yells as another missile (a small rock?) comes flying towards him. He manages to dodge it but he almost slips off in the process. _You get Centaurs to fire arrows and rocks at us and forget to tell us until now?_

As much as Magnus wanted to yell at whoever thought of these tasks, he had more urgent matters to deal with. He does his best to move faster, but it's no use. Moving in the wire is much harder than moving on the net and Centaurs were much more precise with their aim than Pixies. They even started throwing rocks at the wires instead of at him to make them shake so he would lose his balance and fall.

Magnus glanced anxiously at the platform in front of him. It was still way too far away, he had hardly crossed one fourth of the distance. Maybe winging it and "running" worked with the Pixies but there was no way it was going to work with something as intelligent and skilled as the Centaurs, even with a Shielding Charm. He would have to think of something else.

He couldn't fly off the course or he'd get penalized and even if he could he didn't know any spells to do that. He couldn't let go of the wire beneath his feet or the rope in his hands-

 _Wait_.

An idea formed in Magnus's mind and he quickly took the rope under his armpit. Having his hands mostly free now, he made a loop at the end of it and used a Permanent Sticking Charm to hold it like that since it was way too thick for him to make knot with it.

"Oh, what is Magnus Chase up to, folks? Maybe now isn't the best time to do Art and Crafts."

Magnus ignored Thor's comment and gripped the rope as hard as he could. He put one foot through the loop and then the other. The rope bent under his weight where he was holding onto it and he found himself hanging off it with his back to the ground. He tried his best to hold himself up straighter and fixed his eyes on the tree he had come from.

"What the hel-" Professor Thor was cut off, probably for using 'inappropriate' language. "Excuse me, what in Merlin is the Hogwarts Champion doing?"

Magnus pointed his wand at the tree and did his best to aim at it. The Centaurs, knowing he was about to do something, threw even more viciously at him. His Shielding Charm managed to deflect most of them, but it wouldn't hold on for much longer. He took a deep breath before casting a jinx with everything in him.

"Ventus!"

A blast of spiraling wind rushed out of his wand, fast and powerful. The force of the wind sent him flying backwards much faster than he had anticipated. He zipped past the air faster than Firebold, his hair blowing into his face. Past the screaming wind, he head applause and yells and cheers.

His back hit the bark of the tree and he screamed from the pain the collision caused him. He tried to get off the rope and ended up flopping down on the platform.

"Magnus Chase has completed the second obstacle and he's currently on the lead!"

Still surprised his idea actually worked, Magnus turned around to the next obstacle. The distance between the two trees was about the same as the first obstacle, but instead of a net, swings were hanging from the wires, their seats long enough for Magnus to lie down on.

Maybe it was being on the lead that gave Magnus confidence, but that didn't seem so hard. Eager to stay in the lead, Magnus stepped onto the first swing.

Instantly, the wind started blowing. It came so suddenly it knocked Magnus off his feet and he fell on the swing on his knees. The wind blew so fast Magnus couldn't hear what Professor Thor was saying. The wind sounded like screaming in his ears, fast and furious, it felt as if it was clawing at his skin.

He held his head up despite the wind making him wanna close his eyes and he saw the swings shaking back and forth manically in the wind. There was no way he would be able to jump from one to the other when they were moving so fast. Standing up as carefully he could, he held onto the ropes of the swings with both hands. His own swing was moving just as fast as the other ones and he was quickly getting nauseous.

 _I need to get to the next swing._ Knowing that simply trying to jump to the next one would lead to him falling to the ground, Magnus pointed his wand at the swing.

"Accio swing!"

The swing stopped midway and swung back towards Magnus. When it came as close to Magnus as possible he took hold of one of its rope and jumped on. For that one horrible moment until his feet hit the swing he felt weightless, like when he almost fell off the net because of the Pixies.

Then his feet made contact with the swing and he gripped at the rope desperately, despite how much his hands hurt from everything had to done up to now. The swing moved violently, like it was enchanted to throw him off and he wouldn't be surprised if it was.

He followed the same strategy for the next swing and the one after that and it worked, even if he felt like he was going to throw up everything he had eaten. He was halfway through the obstacle when the wind somehow changed. It still blew like he was in the middle of a tornado, but there was something else there too, like air was being generated by another, new source.

Magnus heard it before he saw it. A shrill, high-pitched shriek like a bird on steroids. Then a black blur entered his field of vision. It flew past him and the blast or air from its large, bat-like wings almost knocked him of his feet.

Magnus held onto the rope tighter and looked up at the creature in front him. No, not creature, _creatures._ Two, three, _seven_ large Thestrals flew around Magnus and the swings. The flapping of their wings along with the still powerful wind meant of the swings at an even more erratic, unpredictable way.

Then they dived in and started flying in between the swings. One flew right in front of him and Magnus fell on his stomach, his feet hanging of the side. He pulled on the rope and tried to pull himself onto the swing, but another Thestral flew behind him and the only thing that kept him from falling off the other side was the death grip he had on the rope.

"What is happening now, ladies and gentlemen? Magnus Chase was knocked off his feet and he's looking around like he was just attacked by something!"

 _Of course,_ Magnus thought. _They can't see the Thestrals._

He pulled his legs back on the swing with difficulty and never let go of the rope. The Thestrals kept bombarding him and he hardly had enough time to duck down when he saw a Thestral flying straight for him.

 _I can't cross like this._

"Confringo!" He yelled, firing a Blasting Curse at the Thestrals. He wasn't as good in offensive spells as T.J or even Alex, so his blasting curse looked more like fireworks erupting in front of the flying beasts. He took their moment of shock to Accio the next swing and jump onto it.

On top of his spell being weak, it did little more than annoy them. They flew at him with even more ferocity. One flew straight into his swing and Magnus might have yelled like a five-year-old who saw a monster in his closet but he didn't fall off.

 _Okay, I can't keep blasting them or they'll knock me down and then use my corpse as a chewing toy. (Do Thestrals like chewing toys?)_

He had to find a way to stop them from attacking him, then he would be able to deal with the roaring wind like he did before. But how is he supposed to stop them-?

 _That's it!_

Steadying himself, Magnus pointed at the first Thestral in front of him.

"Petrificus Totatlus!" The Full-Body Bind hit the bat-like creature and its limbs and wings immediately froze. Unable to use its wings to fly anymore, it fell to the ground.

 _Yes! It worked!_

"And now the Hogwarts Champion is firing spells at the air! Maybe the height got to his head?"

Magnus, once again, ignored Thor's attempt at a joke (since he probably knew about the Thestrals if he was the announcer). He fired the same spell at every Thestral he could see, narrowing the number of winged attackers down to two.

Two which seemed to be the most furious ones. Magnus used Accio and jumped onto the next swing right as Thestral Number 1 slammed onto the swing he just jumped out off. He cast the spell on the swing again and jumped on without caring to look where the Thestrals were. A grave mistake because Thestral Number 2 slammed into Magnus's new swing before he was able to find his balance.

He shrieked as he fell forward. The swing in front of him came towards him, pushed by the wind and crushed into his gut. Magnus's mouth flew open in a silent cry, but his hands managed to grip at the edge of the swing.

Hanging off the swing was much harder than hanging off the net. His hand couldn't wrap fully around it and it was glossy and sleek instead of rough. He put all his strength in his hands pushed down. Trying to pull himself up was painful and his left hand bucked out under his weight. He screamed when he almost fell but managed to hold on.

He managed to get hold of the other side of swing in his second try and he hurled himself up. He looked up as soon as he was fully onto the wooden surface; he was not going to let another Thestral catch him by surprise. It was good he did, because one of the winged beasts was coming fast towards him.

"Petrificus Totalus!"The spell hit the beast between its front legs and it fell to the ground. Magnus stood up quickly and searched the woods around him for the last Thestral. He saw it near the ground, flying straight up at him.

"Petrificus Totalus!" He cast the spell again and managed to hit the creature right before it collided with the underside of his swing. It fell down to the ground with a loud noise.

With no other Thestrals coming at him, Magnus made his way across the rest of the swings relatively easily. Once he reached the platform the sudden lack of screaming winds was jarring to him and he held onto the tree's bark so he wouldn't fall down.

"Magnus Chase has made it to the end of the third obstacle! Whatever the three Champions had to face, the Hogwarts Champion beat it first!"

Magnus looked up from where he was panting for breath surprised. He was still in the lead? Normally he was going to question that, but he knew both his opponents must be good wizards if they were picked as Champions so he couldn't afford to stay where he was. He readied himself for the next obstacle, which was to be the last and most difficult of all.

In front of him was a bridge. It wasn't a rope bridge or even a magic bridge made from floating rocks or something. It was a simple, completely normal wooden bridge that stretched between the two trees. At its end was the platform with the bottle Magnus needed to get to.

This was the first time Magnus had been able to see the stands. They were big, hovering at the same height as the obstacle course. Magnus could see a separated area of the stands were the news outlets must be seated. He didn't think long about the fact that everything he was doing was being broadcasted to all over the UK, mostly because he spotted a head of green hair at the very front of the stands.

"Magnus!" Alex yelled at him. "Good luck! Kick their asses!"

Next to Alex were the rest of his friends, all as excited as Alex. Sam was cheering loudly along with her sister and T.J and Mallory were holding up a large banner with his name on it. Amir and Halfborn were going all out, dressed exclusively in Hogwarts colors and Amir had even brought a megaphone with him – though how it could work normally among all this magic he didn't know. Magnus waved at them before turning his attention back to the obstacle.

On the opposite side of the platform he could see another bridge, and there was a similar one coming to the central platform form his right. Despite the trees having been between them before, Magnus could see the route one of his opponents had used. He looked back out of curiosity and he saw Raphael's tall form on one of the last swings.

Spurred on by the sight of the Beauxbatons boy, Magus walked onto the bridge. He had only took one step when he heard the growling. _Oh, fuck._

Like stepping out of an invisible portal, a beast walked onto the bridge. Its body was covered with black fur and its hooves clicked against the wood. A long, scaly green tail sprouted from its rear, curling in the air behind it. Its mane was a light, almost golden color, and its ferocious eyes glared at Magnus.

A shudder ran through Magnus spine. _A chimera._

The Headmasters had told them that for the last obstacle they had to face an unknown magical creature. He knew he would have to fight something, but he hadn't expected he would have to fight a fucking _chimera._

The animal walked towards him with the slow, calculating pacing of a lion despite its goat body. Its snake tale had an actual snake head at the tip and it hissed at Magnus. Its lion head snarled at him and Magnus stepped back without realizing.

No, he had to do this somehow. He had to find a way to get past the beast, at least long enough to get one of the bottles. He wasn't stupid enough to just rush at it and try to dodge it, there was a reason why this thing had the same classification as a dragon or a basilisk. It was fucking dangerous.

Another little detail popped into Magnus's head and he blanched. _Please let it not breathe fire, please let it not breath fire._

The chimera opened its powerful jaws and Magnus expected it to roar at him, but instead a stream of fire flew straight at him.

 _It can breathe fire!_ Magnus immediately fell to his stomach and held his breath as the fire soared over his head. _They brought a fire –breathing beast to a task inside a forest. Oh, Merlin, who came up with this shit?_

Once the fire stopped coming, Magnus got to his feet and cast a water spell behind him where the fire had hit the tree. He turned his attention back to the chimera and fired a Stinging hex at it. Like he expected, it did nothing. A chimera's skin was resistant to most offensive spells. He knew it was weak to a specific kind of grass, but Magnus didn't have it and he didn't know how to transfigurate something into it. He would need to come up with something else.

He could fly over the monster, obviously, and even if he did it would still follow him and turn him into Magnus flambé. He had to get it out of the way somehow.

He was scanning his surroundings when he saw the railing at the edge of the bridge. He run to it and looked down. Yes, it was a long fall to the ground.

A plan forming in his brain, Magnus aimed at a pot in the railing in front of the chimera and fired.

"Confringo!"

The spell hit and blasted an opening into the railing it wasn't huge, but it would work.

The chimera fired at him before he was able to cast his next spell. Magnus jumped out of the way, but the tips of his hair got caught in the fire. He extinguished it quickly and got to the task at hand.

The chimera's fire had burned the wood of the bridge in front of the monster to a crisp, leaving a gap between the monster and Magnus. What little hope Magnus had that the beast wouldn't be able to leap over the wide gap was crushed when it easily jumped over it.

 _It's clever,_ Magnus thought. _It has me trapped now._

Still, that wouldn't matter since he had a plan. He would forever be grateful to Blitzen and Hearthstone for teaching him how to mop a floor with magic. He cast the spell and the surface of the bridge in front of the opening was covered with water. The chimera kept walking towards him.

 _Great,_ Magnus thought, probably the only time in his life when he would be glad a deadly beast was stalking towards him.

Once the chimera stepped onto the slippery surface, Magnus run to the opposite side of the opening. The chimera was a meter away from him and its heavy, stinky breath hit him in the face. His heart was beating, his palms were sweaty and every shell in his body was yelling at him to run before he became that thing's snack. He could think of a million ways to die that would be better than this - hell, even falling off a bridge with a sword imbedded in his gut would be better!

"What in Merlin's name is the Hogwarts Champion doing?"

"Magnus, get the hell out of there!" Alex yelled at him, worry clear in her voice. Magnus didn't listen to her, as much as he wanted to, and looked the chimera dead in the eye. Then, with all he had in him, he aimed his wand at it and cast his spell.

"Ventus!"

The blast of air that had helped Magnus cross the tightwire burst from his wand's tip and hit the chimera head on. The strong wind pushed the monster backwards and the slippery floor beneath its legs helped it slip towards the opening. It fought to stand its ground but its hoofed legs would hold onto the wood.

"Ventus! Ventus!" He cast the spell again for good measure and the beast fell of the side of the bridge, its hooves unable to hold it on against the powerful wind.

There was a moment of silence as Magnus and the audience took in what just happened. Then the stands erupted into a roaring applause.

"H-He did it!" Professor Thor yelled. "He did it! The Hogwarts Champion just defeated the Chimera!"

His friends were going absolutely insane at the front of the stands. Sam was jumping up and down, yelling "Yes! Yes! You did it!" again and again. T.J was spinning the banner in the air as he cheered, using a plethora of colorful words that wouldn't be suitable for children and Halfborn somehow managed to be even worse. Mallory looked dumbfounded before she started yelling along with the others. Amir looked like his mind had just been blown and he yelled something about Magnus having won free falafel for what he just did (which Magnus really wished he meant).

Alex was leaning over the front of the stands, so far out Magnus was afraid she'd fall off, and she was cheering at the top of her lungs. "Magnus, you wonderful asshole, yes!"

Magnus couldn't help smiling widely. His body was buzzing with the near-death adrenaline rush and he still couldn't believe his idea had actually _worked._ He was this close to jumping up and down and celebrating like a little girl who just got a pony, but he stopped himself.

It was then, as Magnus was about to turn around and find a way to cross the gap in the bridge so he could get one of the bottles, that a scream tore through the air. Magnus, like everybody in the stands, turned to where the noise was coming from.

Raphael lay on the ground, clutching at his arm, his face twisted with pain. Blood run from under his fingers where his upper arm had been cut, and from how much there was, Magnus knew it wasn't a shallow cut. The chimera stalked towards the French boy, like a lion going after its prey, and Raphael's blood glistened on its jaws.

"RAPH!" Louis had rushed to the front of the stands the moment he saw what was happening to his boyfriend, eyes gleaming with unshed tears, and he was leaning so far out over the railing it was a wonder he didn't fall off.

Raphael stumbled backwards, his knees shaking and his wand lying far out of his reach near the beast's hooves. Professor Thor was speechless for once, unable to say anything as the deadly beast got nearer and nearer the Beauxbatons Champion, ready the tear up the helpless boy to shreds.

Louis cried out again and Magnus could hear the conversation he had overhead between the two boys in his head, Louis's anxious voice from that morning in the corridor merging with his cries now. He remembered Alex's worried words from last night.

 _Try not to get hurt, alright?_

Magnus whirled his head around, scanning his surroundings. He saw Helga on the other side of the platform facing against her own chimera. If he went now he could probably reach the bottles before her – but the chimera would reach Raphael too. The platform he got to after he crossed the swings was relatively close to Raphael's route. Maybe if he…

"W-What is the Hogwarts Champion doing?"

Magnus run back to the swings and called one to him. He held onto it tightly and swiftly cut the ropes with a spell. The wooden seat of the swing was heavier than he imagined, but he carried it anyway. He lied it down at the part of his platform that was closest to Raphael's and stuck it there with a Charm. It was quick work and sloppy but it would have to do.

The other side of the swing's seat touched Raphael's platform and Magnus run across it quickly. It buckled under his weight and the moment Magnus had crossed it the Sticking Charm broke and it fell to the ground.

 _Okay, I'm not going back the same way._

Magnus rushed to Raphael's side and pointed his wand at the chimera. His knees were shaking and he hardly had a plan, but he couldn't let the beast kill the other boy in front of him like that. He couldn't.

"M-Magnus?" Raphael stuttered, hissing from the pain of his arm. "W-what are you doing here? You should go get the bottle."

"I can do that later," Magnus said without turning to look at Raphael. He couldn't take his eyes off the chimera or it could end badly for both of them.

Raphael's wand still lay on the ground near the beast. "Accio wand!" The wand flew towards Magnus, zipping past the chimera's head in the process. The beast glared at him annoyed and Magnus handed the wand back to Raphael. "Here, try to stop bleeding."

Magnus pointed his wand at the railing of the bridge and cast a Blasting Curse at it but the chimera jumped in front of his line of fire. The railing was still intact and the chimera didn't have a scratch thanks to its protective skin. Magnus tried again but the beast blocked his spell again. Cold sweat trickled down Magnus's neck.

 _It saw what happened to the other chimera and knows what to do to stop me,_ Magnus realized with horror.

"M-Magnus?" Raphael stood on shaky knees beside him. His arm had stopped bleeding but the shirt was torn and covered in his drying blood.

"We need to distract it," Magnus said. "Most offensive spells don't work on it, we need to think of something else."

"Can we drop it off, like you did?"

Magnus shook his head. "It learned from what happened to the other one. We have to find a different way."

The chimera stepped towards them, its low growling vibrating out of its chest. Its snake tail hissed behind it and its hooves clacked as it walked, the sound almost deafening. Its amber eyes were focused on them, sending chills down both boys' spines. No doubt to it they looked like two tasty snacks that were way too troublesome to catch. Magnus didn't want to become that thing's lunch.

"Raphael," he said to the other boy, voice hushed as if the chimera would hear their plans and eat them before they could do something. "Are you good at making things float?"

"Yeah, but-"

Magnus cut him off. "On my signal, make the chimera fly off the bridge."

The confused expression on Raphael's face disappeared, replaced by one of understanding and he nodded. "Okay."

Magnus focused, bringing in mind the rocks the Centaurs fired at him and surely at the other two Champions. With a deep breath, he raised his wand in the air. "Accio rocks!"

For a second he heard nothing. _It didn't work,_ he thought terrified. _We'll be eaten alive._ The chimera had stopped in its tracks, confused by Magnus yelling, but when nothing happened it kept coming towards them. It bend its front legs, snake tail swishing in the air, ready to pounce at them and-

First there was a wooshing sound and then Magnus saw it – dozens of rocks, big and small, flying towards them. He directed the onslaught of rocks at the chimera. The large beast started jumping frantically from place to place to avoid the rocks and started batting the few that came close to it away (Magnus wasn't going to kill it, chimeras are rare). Its sudden movements and nervous batting motions made it look like a frightened goat or a very angry, very large kitten (both of which it technically was).

"Now!" He yelled at Raphael.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Raphael's spell hit the beast head on and the chimera floated into the air. It wasn't flying far above the ground and it wobbled around since the creature was far heavier than anything Raphael had even used that spell on, but it worked. The chimera roared, thrashing around confused – it probably wasn't used to being lifted into the air so suddenly.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Magnus cast the same spell and helped Raphael hold it up. Together they moved the chimera over the bridge's railing and lowered it to the ground. The chimera looked at its surroundings bemusedly, looking very much like a cat that had been picked up and put down at an unfamiliar setting.

"They – They did it! The Hogwarts and Beauxbatons Champions just worked together to defeat the chimera!"

Roaring applause erupted from the stands as the students of the two schools went crazy. Magnus's group of friends were by far the loudest, jumping and hugging and yelling threats to kick his ass at him for the fright he gave them. Louis, tear tracks running down his face, was probably yelling the same kind of things at Raphael in French, though Magnus did catch a 'je t' aime' somewhere in there.

Magnus shot a smile at Raphael, feeling proud of himself, and the other boy returned it despite the pain from his arm. They glanced at the central platform at the same time and exchanged a look before they started running towards it. Raphael run pretty fast despite his injured arm thanks to his long legs and all the strain of the day had finally caught up with Magnus, making his limbs fell like lead.

"This is the final race, ladies and gentlemen! Helga has almost defeated her chimera and Magnus and Raphael, bruised and tired, are running to the finish line! Who will make it there first?"

Raphael had gained ground on him and Magnus was struggling to keep on. Maybe if he pushed himself a little more he would be able to catch up to him-

Suddenly, something hit Magnus square in the chest and made him fly backwards. His back hit the hard wood of the bridge where it connected with the platform Raphael had come from after he crossed the swings. He felt something warm and sticky seep into the front of his shirt where he'd been hit. He touched the spot with shaking fingers and saw blood on them.

"Oh no! Helga's stray spell seems to have hit Magnus Chase head on! The Durmstrang Champion is making her way to the bottles!"

"Magnus!" Raphael had stopped running and looked back at Magnus with worry in his eyes. He started making his way back to him but Magnus stopped him.

"No! Go get your bottle, I'm fine. You need to have someone see your injury!" Magnus tried to get to his feet and he stumbled, but he managed to stay standing. He started running back to the platform but a wave of nausea washed over him and he slowed down. Standing up made him feel dizzy but he could do it – he already made it this far.

Suddenly Raphael was at his side, hooking his unharmed arm under Magnus's armpit to keep him standing.

"You need as much help as me, mon ami. I can't leave you here after you saved my ass."

Magnus opened his mouth to protest but he hissed in pain instead when the wound in his chest moved suddenly. Raphael muttered a sorry to him and tried to move slower.

"And the Durmstrang Champion is the first to reach the finish line!" Thor announced and a wave of nausea that had nothing to do with his injury hit Magnus. She had beaten him. Bloody hell.

Magnus and Raphael wobbled towards the platform, Raphael doing most of the walking as Magnus was close to passing out on his shoulder. The woods around him seemed to be spinning and he saw bursts of colors dancing in the air. _Heh heh… pretty colors._

They made it to the platform and everybody in the stands watched him with baited breath.

"Come on, come on, Magnus. We're here. It's almost over, come on." Raphael kept talking, probably to motivate Magnus to make the last couple of steps, but Magnus felt too lightheaded to care.

"Come on get the bottle, Magnus," Raphael told him and Magnus span his head around, liking the way the foliage of the trees looked when he did that. _It looks like Alex's hair… is Alex's hair soft? I wanna touch it._

Raphael tried to get Magnus hand and make him get one of the bottles but Magnus didn't comply. He looked like a noodle, floppy and unable to stay standing. Helga's spell must have been a tranquilizing one.

Finally, in his frustration, Raphael took one of the bottles and tried to make Magnus hold it. His grip on it was loose, but it was something.

Magnus felt the cool glass against his hand but didn't register much else. The world was blurring at its edges, like a picture being erased by black paint. He felt tired, he wanted to sleep. Raphael's shoulder wasn't the comfiest, but it would do, Magnus decided.

"Raphael Beaumont has taken the bottle and finished second and Magnus Chase has finished last!" Magnus heard Thor announce before he drifted off and everything turned black.

* * *

 **Hope you liked it! Fun fact: I've actually done an obstacle course like this one (minus the magic) and it was fun, even if I almost fainted on one of the obstacles because it was too high for me. But I guess it was worth it cause I got inspiration for this thing, so it's fine!**


	19. Tickle fights are always the answer

It took a few moments for Magnus to realize where he was when he came to. He was lying somewhere nice and soft, the blankets pulled up to his shoulders. He blinked his eyes open lazily and saw a white ceiling. He squinted, the light too much for his eyes at the moment. The clean, sterile smell of a hospital hit his nose and he realized he was in the infirmary. He sat up slowly, resting all his weight on his elbows to push himself up. Pain shot through his chest suddenly and he winced, but it wasn't as bad as it was during the first Task.

"Magnus!" He heard someone say his name and when he turned around he saw Alex sitting by the side of his bed, a book in hand. There were bags under his eyes and his hair was messy (more so than usual) but he looked ecstatic to see Magnus awake. "Miss Eir, he's awake!"

Miss Eir rushed to his side and quickly shooed Alex away. Magnus was pretty sure his friend would protest, but he didn't. As the nurse told him to lift his shirt so she could hear his heartbeat he saw Alex running out of the infirmary to go get the others.

A few tests and much probing later, Miss Eir was jotting down something on her clipboard. "The effects of the spell seem to have worn off, though the wound on your chest will need a couple more days until it's fully healed. The spell was meant for a powerful beast, not a human, it's a miracle you weren't injured farther."

Alex was standing with the rest of their group at the doorway, his eyes suddenly dark and clouded, his eyebrows furrowed in the way they always were when he got upset over something. Mallory, Sam and T.J looked equally upset when they heard what Miss Eir said, though Sam was able to calm her voice and talk without sounding like she wanted to murder someone (which Magnus knew was what Alex would sound like if he attempted to talk).

"Miss Eir, is it alright if we talked to Magnus?" Sam asked the nurse. To anyone who didn't know her for years it would seem as though everything was perfectly normal, but Magnus could hear the subtle edge of anger in her voice.

"Yes, of course. He should be fine to go back to his dorm tonight, though I'd like to keep you here for one more day just in case. Just try not to upset him, alright?"

"Yes, ma'am," they chorused together and Miss Eir left the room to give them time to talk.

Alex took his place at the chair by Magnus's bed and moved it closer to him. He could probably lay his head on Alex's lap if he leaned enough. Sam took another chair and sat at Magnus's other side, while T.J and Mallory plopped down at the foot of his bed besides his legs.

"How are you feeling?" Mallory asked him.

"Fine. My chest hurts a little but otherwise I'm fine."

That little bit about his chest made Alex's face scrunch up more in anger and turn red. "I can't believe she did that!" Alex snapped angrily, his voice loud. "'An accident' my ass! She clearly did that on purpose! And that spell! There's no way they were taught that at school! She must have known that you would have to face a chimera to learn a spell that could specifically subdue a chimera!"

"You know how the Tournament works," Sam told her brother calmly. "Champions can cheat as much as they want as long as they're not caught."

"But it was obvious!" Alex protested, throwing his hands in the air.

"Apparently not to the judges."

Alex huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. Magnus was a bit worried he would try to kill Helga if they let him out of their sight.

"Anyway," T.J said, changing the subject, "what you did on the bridge was amazing! I can't believe you actually beat a chimera!"

"Yeah, he's right," Mallory said, eyes shining. "I was scared it was going to bite you to death or something, but you actually made it! And you did it twice too!"

"Raphael helped," Magnus said, though he'd be lying if he said the compliments from his friends didn't make his cheeks burn.

"Yeah, but he would have been in trouble if you hadn't helped him," Alex said and there was a soft tone to his voice that made Magnus feel warm inside, like he had just eaten warm soup.

"Oh, and now that I remembered." Before Magnus realized what happened, Alex punched him hard on the arm.

"Ow! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing at the place Alex hit him.

"For making me worry for your stupid ass," Alex said matter-of-factly. If Magnus hadn't been too busy pouting at the green-haired boy he might have noticed T.J leaning towards Mallory and whispering "I ship it" to her.

"Oh, now that I remembered," Mallory said and fished out a small, red envelope from her bag. A Howler. "Halfborn left before you woke up so he would make it back to his university in time so he asked me to give you this."

Magnus took the envelope in his hands cautiously, as if it could do something more to him than scream very loudly. He glanced at his friends nervously, hoping one of them would tell him what this was about, but none of them did and just gestured at the red envelope. With a deep breath, Magnus opened the Howler.

"MY MAN, MAGNUS, CONGRATULATIONS! THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME! I KNEW YOU COULD KICK THEIR BUTTS! IT DOESN'T MATTER YOU GOT THE LEAST POINTS, YOU STILL HAVE TWO TASKS TO SHOW THEM WHO'S BOSS! MAKE SURE TO MOP THE FLOOR WITH THEIR FACES!"

Once the yelling stopped Magnus looked baffled, as if Halfborn had yelled all that at his face in person. He smiled wildly at his friend for taking the time to send him a Howler and couldn't help the pang of nostalgia that hit him. Of course Halfborn would send a Howler to congratulate him instead of an actual letter. He missed the big sucker and he couldn't wait to see him at the Yule Ball; he knew Mallory had arranged it so Halfborn could come with her and Sam could bring Amir.

Unfortunately, the yelling from the Howler made Miss Eir come and kick the group of friends out before Magnus could ask Sam if Amir liked the first task.

Alex was the last one to leave and when Miss Eir wasn't looking he rushed forward and hugged Magnus tight. Where the hug in the hall the night before the task begged him to stay safe and unharmed, this one was practically screaming Alex's happiness and relief to be able to hold Magnus like this.

Magnus hugged him back, even if the strength with which Alex held him made the wound on his chest ache. He buried his nose at the place where Alex's shoulder met his neck and breathed in his scent, clear and strong and _Alex_ in a way Magnus couldn't quite describe. He let himself enjoy this, the feeling of Alex in his arms, and for the few moments they held each other he let himself imagine there was something more behind the hug, that Alex hugged him like this because he returned Magnus's feelings and he loved him back.

Miss Eir was preparing Magnus's medication and her back was turned to them, but the both knew they couldn't stay like this for much longer. Alex let go of him and there was something in the way he did it that made Magnus think that he really, _really_ didn't want to. Alex looked at him with his beautiful mismatched eyes, somehow trying to convey everything he wanted to tell him without speaking the words because Miss Eir was still here.

Then, when Magnus thought Alex would juts wave at him and leave, he leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Magnus would have liked to go in detail about what Alex's lips felt like against his cheek but it all happened so quickly all he could think of to describe them was _warm_ and _soft_. One moment they were there and the next they weren't, leaving Magnus's cheek feeling cold in their absence.

When Miss Eir came back to check up on him and give him his medicine for his wound he was still staring vacantly at door Alex had run out off.

"Oh my, your face is so red. I hope you're not getting a fever."

/

Magnus didn't have dinner with his friends that night but they all came to visit him in the infirmary and they sneaked in some food for him because they knew how plain the meals in the infirmary could be. They sat around his bed and told him about everything that happened that day in class that he had missed while he ate the food they brought him. Along with the food they also brought flowers and little sweets from Hogwarts students who wanted to congratulate him for how he did in the first task. It made him feel guilty because he hadn't even finished in second place, the touch-activated charm on the bottles had made sure the first to touch them was registered as the victor.

"Oh, come on, you practically won anyway," Alex told him when he voiced his concerns. She was a girl today and she hadn't brought up the kiss from yesterday at all. She acted so nonchalant about something that had Magnus stay awake in his bed late at night, wondering if this was really life or some weird fever dream.

"Yeah, but I'm still in last place when it comes to points."

"Some people are annoyed about that, actually," T.J piped up and Mallory elbowed him hard in the side while Sam and Alex glared at him; he obviously wasn't meant to say that to him. "They say that you could have won if you hadn't gone back to help Raphael and they say you're stupid for doing that," T.J continued, despite Alex mouthing 'I'll kill you' at him. "Of course they're only a minority, so it's fine."

"And you still have two tasks, so you can still beat Helga," Alex added with a smile. "Man, I need to get a camera to take a picture of her face when you wipe the floor with her face."

"You'll tape it to your wall, won't you?" Magnus said, barely holding back a smirk from his lips.

"You know it," Alex said with a wink and Magnus died a little inside. _Who gave you the right to do that, I have a weak heart?_

"They're practically married, good God," Mallory whispered under her breath. Magnus and Alex were too busy looking at each other to notice what she had said but everybody else heard and nodded in agreement.

Miss Eir had come to usher them out soon after that and Magnus went to sleep earlier that night, dreaming of him and Alex cuddling in a couch and sharing soft kisses and content sighs.

Miss Eir left him the infirmary the next morning, giving him a small vase of ointment he would have to put on his wound for the next week. He was heading to the Hall of the Slain to catch his friends while they were still eating breakfast when he turned a corner and stumbled upon Raphael and Louis.

"Magnus!" Raphael exclaimed when he saw him, the French accent in his voice making his name sound a bit weird.

"Hi, Raphael," Magnus greeted him with a smile. "Is your arm any better?"

"Oui, it's great! You're nurse is truly amazing, there's hardly a scar left!" Raphael patted his used-to-be injured arm to prove himself and he didn't flinch at all. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. Louis and I were coming to see you in the infirmary. I wanted to thank you for helping me during the first task."

There was such sincere gratitude in Raphael's voice that it made Magnus's cheeks heat. "It's fine, you don't need to thank me."

"No, it's not!" Raphael said loudly. What Magnus said was enough to make his voice rise in volume and he looked as if the way Magnus's brushed it off so casually offended him in some way. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't helped, I panicked when the chimera attacked me. I need to work on that, honestly, I can't freeze like that in the next task. Maybe…"

Raphael started rambling, slipping into rapid French and Magnus didn't understand anything, except the occasional 'merci'. Raphael made wide, animated gestures as he talked, racking his hands though his hair multiple times, making it stand at odd angles. Magnus looked at him, half confused and half amused until Louis put a hand on his boyfriend's arm. The taller boy instantly calmed down and gave Louis a sheepish grin.

"What this idiot was trying to say," Louis said, sending a glare at Raphael but there was no real malice behind it, "is that we were coming to say thank you. So thank you for helping Raph and not letting him become cat food."

Magnus smiled at the other blonde and nodded his head. "You're welcome," he said, now knowing that saying something along the lines of 'it's nothing' or 'it's alright' wouldn't sit with the two French boys.

Raphael poked Louis on the side. "Give him what you made, mon cher."

Louis's cheeks flushed immediately and Magnus wasn't sure if it was because of the pet name or whatever he wanted to give him.

"I'm kind of rubbish at trying to explain what I want to say, so… here," Louis muttered before shoving a crudely wrapped package at Magnus.

"It's a Raspberry Charlotte," Raphael explained before Magnus had enough time to ask what was in the package. "It's Louis's specialty. Louis is great when it comes to pastries." Raphael topped the compliment by kissing his boyfriend on the cheek.

"My mom still does it better," the blonde muttered, clearly embarrassed by Raphael being so affectionate in front of someone. Magnus had to fight really hard not to coo at them.

"Oh, please, you're a great cook and you know. I bet you're going to be the best chef in all of Paris someday – non, all of France."

Magnus let out a small chuckle when Louis rolled his eyes at Raphael, even though his face was as red as the Gryffindor common room.

"Thank you a lot for the cake," Magnus said with a smile. "I'm sure it'll be great."

He was about to leave when Louis stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"If you don't mind me asking," he started, "why did you do it? If you hadn't you would have won the first task."

With the package in his hands Magnus could fidget, no matter how much he wanted to. "I, um, happened to hear your conversation before the task when I came to find Raphael," Louis's cheeks reddened when he realized someone had overheard them, "and a friend of mine said something similar to me too before the task. I guess I thought that if I was in Raphael's pace she would worry for me and I didn't want that for her or for you so I helped? I'm really not sure, to be honest, I didn't think much before I acted."

"Well," Louis said with a soft smile, "no matter why you did it, thank you."

Magnus told them goodbye and went on his way. He was passing by a big old tapestry when he suddenly heard loud voices talking in English and a language he didn't understand. He didn't recognize any of them, save for one that hit him like a brick. _Helga._

Sure that she would harass him for lousing, Magnus dived behind the tapestry. There was a hollow spot behind it big enough to fit two people and Magnus didn't want to think about what some students might be getting up to in there.

The footsteps got louder and louder and Helga and whoever she was talking with came closer. There was a small hole in the tapestry Magnus hadn't noticed before and he peaked out of it to see when she had left. Helga was had stopped walking in front of the tapestry, back held straight and proud like always, but there was something about her shoulders that seemed too tense.

"You did wonderful in the first task, _ä_ _lskling_ ," a woman's voice said. Magnus turned in his hiding place to see her through the hole and he instantly knew she was Helga's mother. They had the same hair, the same nose and face shape. She looked like the stereotypical image of a rich woman, right down to the large pearls around her neck and the gravity defying hairdo. Even though her last word was undoubtedly a pet name it was spoke without the warmth you'd expect – it sounded more like a general talking to her soldiers.

"Thank you, _mor_ ," Helga said formally, like she was addressing the Minister of magic instead of her own mother. Magnus felt a pang of sympathy for her despite everything she had done to Alex – there was nothing in the way she spoke that showed Magnus she was close to her mother he couldn't help feeling sad for her.

It was then that Magnus noticed the girl with the blonde pageboy haircut from the Halloween part standing next to Helga. They were standing close enough to be holding hands but far enough that they didn't and even thought she was trying to hide it, Magnus noticed the concern with which she looked at Helga, as if she was afraid the other girl could crack and break.

"We expected nothing else from our daughter," a man's voice said and Magnus looked at who must be Helga's father. They had the same rough eyes, the same thin lips, the same air of superiority in the way they held themselves. There was something in the way he spoke that sentence that made it sound less like he was confident in his daughter's ability and more like Helga had succeeded in something they told her to do.

"Then again, with competition like that you would have to be completely useless to finish in any other place than first," he father continued and Magnus had the sudden urge to throw something at him. He saw Helga bit the inside of her cheek, a motion he caught only because Sam did that when she was nervous or uncomfortable too. "Our daughter isn't useless, right _ä_ _lskling_?" Maybe the comment was meant to sound affectionate, but to Magnus it sounded more like a threat. _You don't want to know what will happen if you prove me wrong,_ unspoken and yet loud enough to make Magnus's ears ring.

Apparently Helga though so too because she bit her cheek even harder and her hand twitched where it hang close to her friend's hand, like she wanted nothing more than to take it and squeeze it for support but she couldn't.

"No, _far_ ," Helga said, doing a great job at hiding the tremor in her voice.

"That's our girl." Helga's father smiled and there was nothing in his smile that spoke of fatherly pride. "Remember, now that… _he_ isn't here, you're the heir to the Leifsson family." Magnus remembered how Alex had told him Helga's older brother was gay and that Helga loved him a lot. Her parents certainly didn't seem to feel the same way. "You have a long and proud legacy to live up to. What does a Leifsson do?"

"A Leifsson is always the best," Helga said with a monotone voice. What should have been a self-righteous family motto sounded more like a shackle and chains the way she said it. Maybe that's what it was for her.

"That's right," Helga's mother said. She smiled in a way that made Magnus's wonder if the last time she smiled was a decade ago – maybe more. "Now, run along and go have breakfast. Your father and I will make sure to come see you in the second task."

"Goodbye, _mor, far._ " As Helga's parents left she and the blonde girl stayed there, Helga glaring at a spot in the floor like she wanted to punch it – or like she was holding back tears.

"Helga?" the blonde girl asked in a worried voice, finally taking Helga's hand in hers. "Are you alright?"

"No," Helga choked out. "Agatha, they spoke like he's _dead._ I've spoken to him; he's so much happier now without them around."

"You will be happy too," Agatha said. The way she spoke was so different that the way Helga's parents talked; it was like she was trying to make up for all the affection her parents didn't give her when they spoke.

"Will I?" Magnus needed a moment to realize Helga had spoken – that voice was too quiet, too broken for the girl he had fought with.

"Yes," Agatha said without missing a beat. "You will. I'll make sure you will."

Helga smiled at the other girl softly. Magnus didn't even know Helga could make a face like that. "Thanks, Agatha."

Agatha giggled and nuzzled her face into Helga's neck. "No problem, silly. Now let's go have breakfast, I'm starving."

Magnus didn't leave his place behind the tapestry until he could no longer hear Helga and Agatha's footsteps.

/

Magnus wasn't stressed. What made you think that he was stressed? It wasn't like the Yule Ball was in a week and he was supposed to open the dance even though he couldn't dance for shit or that he still didn't have a date or that he had absolutely no idea what the clue for the second task inside the bottle was.

Nope, not stressed at all.

He still had time to figure what the clue was, his friends would tell him. The second task was in February after all; he had time. But it wasn't like the clue was a riddle he had to solve – he would have solved it already if that was the case. No, there was no clue whatsoever; the parchment inside the bottle he had faced so many obstacles for was completely blank. He had taken to carrying the parchment with him everywhere in hopes that something would magically appear on it.

As for the date, he knew anybody in Hogwarts would agree to go with him if he asked them, but that wasn't the problem. He knew who he wanted to come with him to the Yule Ball. He knew from the start of the year. Even though he had been able to face a chimera asking Alex a simple question made him feel week in the knees. Maybe he could have asked her to come with him as friends before but now, after that kiss in the infirmary, he couldn't bring himself to.

 _Friends can kiss each other on the cheek,_ he'd tell himself and a part of him believed it but a part of him wanted it to be a lie. A part of him wanted there to be something more behind Alex's lips on his cheek than just friendship and a part of him told him that there's no way there was.

"Ow! Come on Magnus, focus. I only have so many toes."

And there was the dancing part of the Ball. When he had shared that particular worry with his friends none of them had been able to help him. None of them knew how to waltz and why would they anyway? They didn't need to know. But Magnus couldn't skip the opening waltz no matter how much he wanted it.

Then Alex had offered to teach him.

"My parents made me learn when I still lived with them," she had said. "Might as well make something good out of it."

So Alex started teaching Magnus how to waltz. They would meet in the Room of Requirement after classes ended and they would dance to pieces of music that all seemed identical to Magnus but Alex insisted were different. Alex was the one to lead in the first lessons until Magnus got the hang of it but now he had to be the one with his hand at Alex's waist as they danced.

"Sorry, sorry. I got lost in thought."

Alex huffed but Magnus didn't miss the way the corner of her lips tugged upwards. The Room had turned in the same cozy living room it had created when Alex had talked to him about Conall last year and they had almost kissed. The thought made Magnus's cheeks flush and his stomach churn so he tried not to think about it. Their bags lay near the couch, their homework sprawled out on the coffee table. Somewhere along the line their dancing lessons had turned into their unofficial study sessions and hangout time (and make-out time according to Mallory and T.J).

"Okay, let's start from the top," Alex said and started the song from the beginning.

Magnus did as she had showed him. He stepped towards her and bowed, offering his hand to her. When she took it he stepped closer, bringing their joined at the same height as their heads and he rested his other hand just above her hip. They started moving slowly and Magnus kept his eyes at his feet so he wouldn't step on her again. It had been much easier to follow Alex instead of being the one leading the dance.

"Magnus, you have to look at your partner, not your feet," Alex told him, the slightest hint of exasperation seeping into her voice. This wasn't the first time she had told him.

"I don't want to step on you." _And I don't know if I can stop myself from kissing you if I look at you._

"You won't step on me. Come on, give it a try."

So Magnus did. He raised his head and his breath was immediately stolen by the sight of Alex's two-colored eyes. No matter how many times he looked at them he was always captivated by them. They were pools of honey and chocolate, alight with mischief and bravery, love and pain and hundreds of other emotions and Magnus wanted to know about all of them. He was afraid he'd be so mesmerized by her eyes he would notice if he stepped on her feet. He certainly wouldn't be able to speak a comprehensive sentence, that's for sure.

"See? Not that hard," Alex said, breathless, as if she was as enthralled by the sight of him as he was of her. _Yeah, right._

Magnus smirked at her, hoping it would mask the fact all he wanted to do was kiss her senseless. They kept dancing, their bodies just a breath away, the same way they would dance if Magnus actually got the courage to ask her to go with him.

 _What do you have to lose?_ His brain asked him.

 _Her friendship,_ he answered.

 _She won't stop being your friend because you asked her to a dance. You don't have someone to go with and you won't ask anyone because you want to go with her, so ask her. You saw what almost happened to Raphael in the first task, do you really want to be mauled by a magical beast and regret not asking Alex to a stupid dance? Just do it._

Before Magnus was able to retort to what his brain said (why was he arguing with his brain?) Alex spoke up.

"So, have you found someone to go to the Yule Ball with?"

"No," he said and he felt his hand sweat where it rested on Alex's hip. "Have you?"

"Not really," she said and Magnus got the feeling she wanted to say something more. In the end, what she said was, "A girl asked me but I didn't really wanna go with her."

 _Just ask her. Come on, do it. It's just six words, where's the difficulty? If you can face a chimera without peeing your pants then you can ask your crush to go to a stupid dance._

 _JUST DO IT!_

Magnus couldn't believe he was being peer-pressured into doing this by his own brain.

"Do-" he started and somehow choked on air. He tried again. "Do you want to go with me?"

Alex looked at him with a mixture of surprise and relief, pink dusting her cheeks, though Magnus didn't get why she was relieved. Despite the fact her reaction to his question wasn't bad, Magnus somehow panicked anyway, those few seconds before she answered feeling like centuries to him.

"I-I mean, we already know how to dance together, s-so we could go as friends?" He blurted out. "S-Since you don't have someone to go with a-and I don't have someone to go with?"

For a moment, Magnus though he saw the corner of Alex's mouth dip down, but he blinked and the beginning of a frown on her face had disappeared. "Alright. Someone has to make sure you don't embarrass yourself on the opening waltz."

Then, before Magnus realized what was coming, she let go of his hand and shoulder and attacked his sides with her skillful fingers. Magnus burst out laughing immediately.

"Bwua ha ha ha ha! A-Alex! W-why? Aha ha ha!"

"I got bored!" She said gleefully and attacked him even more ferociously. She was enjoying this, damn her. As Magnus doubled over in laughter and tried to get away from her, he had half a thought that they should have had a tickling obstacle in the first task.

"Aha ha ha ha! S-Stop! A-Alex, I can't breathe!"

"I don't care!"

Alex had her chest to his back so Magnus wouldn't be able to punch her away. In away other instance, Magnus would have loved having Alex hug him from behind but not now. He thrashed around, trying to get out of her hold. In a moment of pure survival instincts (though he probably couldn't die from tickling, but you never know) he stepped down hard on Alex foot.

"Ow!"

Magnus run away from her as she yelled in pain, feeling proud of himself. However, he was too busy looking back at her jumping up and down on one leg, nursing her hurt toes, to see that he was running straight into the coffee table.

He crushed into the table with his back, making their pencils and quills scatter around. Even worse, the bottle with Alex potion for class toppled over since it had no quirk it spilled all its contents on the parchment with the clue that Magnus had left on the table.

"Fuck. Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck," Magnus kept muttering as he looked at the drenched parchment.

"M-maybe we can dry it," Alex suggested nervously. Dread was settling in both their bellies at the thought of having just destroyed Magnus's only clue about the second task.

Magnus was holding the parchment between trembling fingers as he shook it back and forth in hopes it would get most of the water out. It was while he was shaking it that a deep, black stain spread over the parchment from where the potion had fell on it like spilled ink.

Magnus sent Alex a "what the fuck is happening" look. Alex shrugged at him, just as confused as her was.

The ink stain covered the entire parchment before it started sinking back to a single point in the middle. It left smaller, blurry stains behind it, like fogy spots of warm breath on cold windows. Those too grew smaller and smaller, coming into focus like a camera zooming in on something. What they left behind them was a riddle written in pitch black ink.

 _ **"In dusty corridors you will find us  
and know our guards will not let us go without a fuss.  
They are quick of wit, prideful, unpredictable  
what they guard you need to save that for which you care unconditionally.  
Two hours - that's it, not a moment beyond.  
Too late - we're sorry, your treasure is gone."**_


	20. What's holding you back?

After the Christmas Feast, students rushed out of the Hall of the Slain to get ready for the Yule Ball and the teachers started decorating the Hall for the dance. Magnus could feel his nervousness rise as he tried to tie his _fucking_ bowtie. Who the _fuck_ thought this thing was a good idea? Like, really, _who_? Because Magnus had a few choice words to say to them.

He let out an exasperated sigh and run his hand through his hair out of habit before remembering he had slicked his hair back and he had just now ruined. His hair, that he had fought to tame, was now sticking up in odd angles. Magnus had half a thought that he looked like some bad Sonic the Hedgehog OC before he tried wrestling with his hair once more.

Once his hair was slicked back with so much gel it looked as hard as rock and his bowtie was on (even if it was hanging a bit too much on the left) Magnus made his way to the Hall of the Slain. Students were waiting by the big heavy doors for their date or their friends to arrive, all dressed in their best clothes. You didn't get the chance to attend a Yule Ball often – in fact, since the Tournament was every five years, you might never get to.

Magnus's friends were waiting by the door as well. T.J was the first to spot him and waved him over. His suit looked like Magnus's but it was black instead of white and his shirt underneath his jacket was a deep blue. Despite his dislike for the color, Magnus had to admit his friend looked nice.

"Hey, guys," Magnus greeted them as he came closer. Sam and Amir were standing by T.J, close enough to be touching but not quite, their hands a breath away. Sam's dress was deep emerald, so dark it was almost black. Her hijab was the same color and Magnus could see little details in lace on the hem. Amir's suit was the exact same color, which made Magnus think they had agreed to wear matching clothes and he had to suppress his urge to coo at them because _aww._

"Hi, Amir."

"Hi, Magnus," the other boy responded with a smile. Magnus hadn't been able to see him since the first Task. "You did great at the first Task. I've given some falafel for you to the –what did you call them, house elves?" Sam nodded. "I gave your falafel to the house elves, they said they'll give it to you later."

Magnus pumped his fist into the air. "Hell yeah!"

Amir smiled at his enthusiasm as he and T.J went back to their conversation about the magical world – apparently Amir still had many questions and T.J was glad to answer all of them. Sam went into full mum mode when she saw that Magnus's bowtie wasn't straight and was about to go and fix it for him when Mallory and Halfborn appeared.

"Magnus, buddy! How are you?" Halfborn roared as he gave Magnus the biggest bear hug of his life.

"Halfborn, I can't breathe," Magnus wheezed as his sides got crushed between his friends hands.

"Oops, sorry," Halfborn let him go, _clearly_ not sorry. "Man, you were amazing at the first Task. You got my Howler, right?"

"Yeah, I did. Miss Eir kicked them out of the infirmary after I opened it."

Halfborn laughed a loud, hearty laugh and Magnus smiled, glad to see his friend again. Mallory rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, amusement clear in her eyes. Her fiery hair spilled over her shoulders like liquid fire, its color even more bright against her navy dress. It ruffled above the ground like waves, the color becoming deeper and deeper the closest it got to the hem. Next to Halfborn in his sharp black suit they looked so good Magnus could imagine them walking on a red carpet or something like that easily.

They kept making small talk until Halfborn elbowed Magnus with a smug grin. "Seems like your date is here."

Magnus turned around with a questioning look and he gasped at the sight beyond him, his heart faltering in its beat for a moment before it picked up again, faster than ever.

Alex looked _amazing,_ to say the least. It seemed as if the student body was splitting to letting her pass, like the sea dividing before Moses. Or maybe no one moved at all and Magnus was just too focused on her. He suddenly knew what it felt like to be a moth or a fly in front of a bright light, attracted so powerfully to something that would probably kill you.

Alex's dress was dark like shadows, spilling to the floor in numerous ruffles that made her look like an upside-down rose. White lace adorned her neckline, her waist and the hem of her skirt like snow in the night sky. Her green locks seemed curlier than before, pulled out of her face by a delicate white flower crown. Light make-up made her eyes look bigger and shinier, her cheeks redder, her lips plusher, though Magnus knew he'd die to kiss her with or without the lip-gloss.

"Fuck me," Magnus mumbled without realizing it.

"I think she'd like that," T.J said with a grin. For the ace of the group he made the most innuendos out of all of them.

"Hey, guys," Alex greeted them when she got closer. She smelt good. Did she always smell that good? Probably. Why didn't Magnus notice before?

"H-hi," Magnus managed to get out. His heart beat so loud he was sure everybody in a hundred meters radius could hear it. It made him feel like his words had to go through quicksand to get out of his throat.

"Hi, Magnus," Alex smiled at him and did she know what her smile did to him? He felt like he was having a heart attack every time she so much as grinned in his general directions. He was too young to die of a heart attack, dammit!

Mallory was saying something to Alex, probably about how good she looked or something along those lines and Magnus was left staring there speechless. What Alex and her roommates were saying didn't register in his brain, but every small way Alex moved did. He felt as if he was looking at a spinning top, completely hypnotized by its movements.

Magnus was awoken from his hypnotization when Halfborn put an arm around his shoulders. "Seems like you finally managed to ask Alex out, huh? It was about time, too. I'm happy for you mate, even if I owe Mallory two galleons now."

"W-what?" Magnus stuttered out, face flushing. _Did they bet on my non-existent love-life?_ "No, I didn't ask Alex out, I-I mean I did, but we're here as friends. And did you honestly bet on that?"

The smile on Halfborn's face turned into a frown. "Yeah, we did, and we bet a lot of money too. T.J bet the most."

T.J shrugged. "That's true." Magnus glared at him, though he was wondering exactly how much money T.J had bet on them.

"And what do you mean you're here as friends?" Halfborn went on incredulous. "How did you ask Alex to the _Yule Ball_ as friends? Pretty much everybody here has come with a date!"

"Well, I came with Alex as friends," Magnus protested, his face redder than Mallory's hair. "We're just friends." It sounded unconvincing even to his own ears.

Halfborn looked at him with an "are you shitting me look" before he turned to T.J. "Please tell me I wasn't that bad."

"You weren't, actually. Magnus is worse." Magnus glared at his friend. T.J ignored him. "Magnus, remember when we talked about this in the library last year?" Magnus nodded. "I know you said you would do things at your own time, and I respect that, but if you want my opinion, you should really talk to Alex for real about it. You two have a connection, you _work_ together. I can't tell you if Alex feels the same way, but this is our last year here. Who knows what will happen in our lives afterwards?"

Magnus nodded along absentmindedly, their conversation about the future from the Hogwarts Express coming back to him. The fact that after this year was over he wouldn't see his friends every single day still hadn't full sank in.

"Last year you said you didn't think it was a good idea to ask Alex out so soon after she had broke up with Conall," T.J went on, his voice stern, like he was scolding a child. With how laid-back his friends could be he forgot how serious he can get sometimes. "You probably used the fact they were together as an excuse to avoid your feeling before that. What's holding you back now?"

Magnus didn't answer, didn't know how to. What _was_ holding him back?

"What are we doing here?" he heard Mallory say suddenly. "Let's go party!" Mallory took her boyfriend by the arm and run inside the Hall of the Slain faster than it should have been possible for someone in a dress and (presumably) heels. (Though Mallory could have killed a man in heels and looked fabulous while doing it.) (She would probably kill him _with_ the heels.)

Amir and Sam headed inside the Hall as well, with T.J running straight for the buffet table (as any sane person would). Magnus was about to get inside too when Alex stopped him by his shoulder. He gave her a quizzical look but she just gestured him closer and said, "Come here."

Magnus did, unsure of what Alex wanted to do. She came closer to him, standing just a step apart and reached her arms up to his neck. For a moment Magnus could imagine her wrapping them around his neck and pulling him closer, his body pressed flush against her as she kissed him.

But that didn't happen. Instead she untied his bowtie and tied it again with graceful fingers. "We can't have the Hogwarts champion show up with a crooked bowtie," she said with a smirk and Merlin did Magnus love her smirk. She started explaining how you're supposed to tie a bowtie, saying it was weird but you learnt after some time, and Magnus knew he should have been paying attention but he couldn't. He was too busy paying attention to her.

She was beautiful. He knew she was a metamorphmagus, he knew she could look anyway she wanted, and he had no doubt he would think she was beautiful however she chose to change her appearance. She was gorgeous, inside and out, and his conversation with Halfborn and T.J made him even more aware of just how much he liked her, of all the small things she did that made her who she was.

She could draw amazingly well and she'd make a lot of pots at summer when they had more free time. She even knew how to tie a bowtie! Who knows how to do that in this day and age? She could probably kill him with that bowtie too if she wanted and Magnus found that strangely hot.

Then he thought of why she knew how to do those things, why she knew how to dance waltz and he remembered all the absentminded comments she'd made about her parents and how badly they treated her, even when they thought she was their son, their precious heir. He couldn't help being mad at people who had hurt such a wonderful person.

"What are you thinking about?" Alex asked him, amusement clear in her voice – she said that he had a funny expression on his face when he was thinking hard about something and she'd compare it to his brain frying because he worked it harder than he should. She had finished tying his bowtie but her hands still rested at either side of his neck. She was a good inch or two taller than him and it would be so easy to pull her down and kiss her.

 _What's holding you back now?_ T.J's words rang in his ears and Magnus found himself saying something he would have dared to say before without wanting to crawl into a hole afterwards.

"Just how great you are," he said simply, like it was the truest thing he's ever said.

Alex's eyes widened. She obviously wasn't expecting him to say something like that, though he didn't expect to say it either. Her cheeks grew pinker and Magnus got a strange sense of satisfaction at being able to make her blush. The corners of her lips turned up in a teasing smile and she hooked their arms together.

"Now," she said, her cheeks still red, "don't start flirting when we're not even at the Ball yet, lover-boy."

Magnus smiled back despite the warmth climbing his neck towards his cheeks. "Does that mean I can flirt if we're inside the Hall of the Slain?" he asked in a joking tone.

"Sure," Alex shrugged as they walked inside the Hall of the Slain. "As long as it's with me. You wouldn't want to make your date jealous, right?" She was smiling widely, her eyes alight by their joking around.

"Of course not. Plus, my date's the prettiest person here so why would I flirt with someone else?" As much as Magnus was enjoying their fooling around, there was still a part of him that was getting very embarrassed by it.

And he probably wasn't the only one because Alex's cheeks darkened again. "Well, aren't you smooth," she said with a small smile. Her eyes fell on the buffet table - where T.J was currently stuffing breatsticks inside his pocket and hoping no one would notice - and she smiled wider. "Care for a snack, handsome?"

"Sure, beautiful," Magnus shot back, cheeks aflame.

They stood by the buffet table, eating some of the snacks that had been put there as the rest of the students spilled inside the large room. The longer the stood there the more overdramatically they flirted and it was after Alex winked at him and called him cute that Magnus had a heart attack realized his random comment had led to them aggressively flirting with each other as a competition.

It was when Magnus was about to say that Alex looked _marvelous_ in her dress (because the more over-the-top the better) that he heard a loud, French-accented voice call out to him.

"Magnus, mon ami, how are you?" Raphael asked as he came closer, dragging Louis behind him by the arm. The blonde boy had the face of someone who _really_ regretted his actions while Raphael looked like he would start bouncing off the walls any minute now.

"Oh, I'm fine," Magnus responded. He didn't know whether he should be relieved or not that he wouldn't joke-flirt with Alex anymore. "How are you?"

"About to go crazy because I _told you_ not to eat those éclairs and you did anyway," Louis cut in before Raphael could say anything. "He gets really hyperactive when he eats a lot of sugar," he explained to Magnus and Alex.

"Which is why you've been trying to come up with tasty sugar-free recipes like the great boyfriend you are," Raphael said as he kissed Louis cheeks, trying to make his boyfriend stop being angry at him. "Besides, you can't blame me for eating them. Your éclairs are tres incroyable!"

Louis blushed a little by the compliment but he still glared at the other boy. The two of them had come to the Yule Ball in matching suits in their school's colors.

"Why were you making éclairs anyway?" Alex asked confused though very amused (and kinda hungry for éclairs).

"I bake when I'm bored," Louis answered simply.

"And when he's stressed and when he can't sleep and when he's really happy…" Raphael counted on his fingers.

"I bake a lot."

They made small talk for a little bit before Magnus remembered something. "Oh, the cake you gave me was really good by the way."

"Thanks," Louis said at the same time Alex asked, "What cake?"

Magnus's face paled as he remembered that he had never told Alex, or any of his friends, about the cake. "Oh, Louis gave me a cake as thank you for the first task and, um…"

"You didn't give any to us?" Alex sounded offended and Magnus took a cautious step to the side without realizing it.

"I was going to!" he tried to excuse himself, making wide gestures with his hands. "But then I took a slice and it was good and… I ate all of it on my own." He knew he should have kept a bit for his friends, he would have kept some of them since he could eat a whole cake on his own, but… it was just really good!

"I am breaking up with you," Alex said simply. Louis and Raphael watched the whole scene unfold amused.

"Magnus," Raphael started to stop the (albeit joke) fight between the two British, "won't you introduce us to _ta bien-aimee_?"

Alex's dramatic frown immediately left her face as she blushed redder than a tomato. Magnus was confused as to why she reacted like that before she remembered Alex knew both Spanish and French so she understood what Raphael had just called her. Magnus would have reacted in the same way (if not way worse) if he had understood too, but he had limited (to non-existent) knowledge in French so he thought that Raph had simply called Alex his best friend.

"Oh, um, this is Alex," Magnus introduced his crush awkwardly.

"So you are the Alex he's told us about," Louis said, looking Alex in the eye. Magnus flushed and just barely kept himself from groaning. The way he phrased it made it sound as if he had been fawning to them about her! "I'm Luis Dupain."

Alex smiled at the blonde French boy. "Alex Fierro."

"And I suppose you know my name already from the Goblet, but I'm Raphael Beaumont," the Beauxbatons Champion piped in, smile wider than that of a five-year-old. Magnus could see what sugar had done to him. "Nice to finally meet Magnus's girlfriend."

Magnus's face went red faster than the speed of light. Alex wasn't far behind.

"I- I am not-"she spluttered.

"S-she's not-" he tried.

Raphael and Louis sent each other a nervous glance as the two teens in front of them were nearly having an aneurism.

"I'm sorry for assuming then," Raphael said, hoping it would stop Magnus and Alex from fainting on the spot. Then, because he couldn't hold himself back and he honestly didn't see what would be the problem since they were just friends, he said, "Though you'd make a really cute couple."

Magnus choked on air again and Alex glared a Raphael (something that would have been much more threatening if she wasn't blushing redder than the Gryffindor banner).

"So, um, how's the clue coming along?" Magnus changed the subject. He didn't think his heart could take any more comments about his relationship with Alex. "Have you solved it yet?"

For some reason that simple question made both boys' faces to flush bright red.

"Yeah, we have," Raphael muttered.

"'We?'" Alex asked, one eyebrow perfectly raised.

"Yeah, we were at the kitchens and I was trying to make a Quiche Lorraine-" Louis started explaining.

"-and I was messing around with some potions because I was bored and he wouldn't let me lick the spoon-" Raphael cut in.

"-it's unhygienic!-"

"-so I tried to have some fun-"

"-you started kissing me while I was mixing the ingredients-"

"-and we kind of dropped the potion I was working on onto the parchment." Raphael was obviously flustered, fidgeting with the fabric of his suit. Then he seemed to remember something and his blush was instantly replaced by a scared look. "Oh shit, tell me you had solved it too."

Magnus nodded. "Yeah, I have, it's alright."

Raphael was probably about to ask him how he had solved it when Professor Sif gestured them over. It was time for the Champion's Waltz.

The students cleared the dancing floor quickly, eager to see the Champion's Waltz. The three Champions and their dates took their places like they had been told. Helga, Magnus and Raphael stood on one side of the dance floor while their dates stood opposite them. Helga was dressed in a blood red dress, since it was the school's color, and her date, Agatha, wore a matching dress as well.

The music started playing and all three couples took slow steps towards each other. Once close, Magnus bowed and offered a hand to Alex, as per the choreography. Alex took it and they started circling around each other with their joint hands acting like the axis of their circle.

Around them, the other two couples were doing the same thing. Magnus paid close attention to the music and when he heard their cue he pulled Alex closer, bringing his hand to her waist.

"Careful not to step on my toes," Alex whispered to him and Magnus smiled at her.

They circled around the dance floor the way their Headmasters had showed them, dresses and suit jackets swaying in time with the music. From above they would have looked like leafs being moved along by the wind and the students watched their performance enrapt. They knew the dance was choreographed but there was still something amazingly intimate in the way the three couples held and looked at each other, like they were each other's treasure.

Magnus led Alex across the dance floor, his partner's dress flaring out in a wide circle. He had to fight everything in him not to start staring at his feet but he knew it'd look bad if he did the entire dance with his hand bowed down. That didn't stop him from glancing down at his feet, even if he couldn't see them sometimes under Alex's dress.

He was doing just that when Alex squeezed a bit too hard on his shoulder. He looked up and it was a wonder his step didn't falter because _wow._ He hadn't realized exactly how close they were, especially since he had made it a habit to stare at a place over Alex's shoulder when they danced so as to avoid death at his young age.

"Look at me," his beautiful partner whispered and he heard even over the music still playing around them.

Magnus complied, half-thinking that someone would have to force him to force him to ever stop looking at Alex. The lights around the room had lowered when their dance started and a spotlight fell on each of them as they walked closer. When their hands had met and the couples started dancing together the colors had shifted into each school's colors. Magnus and Alex danced under red, green, blue and yellow lights that made Alex look like something supernatural, a beautiful creature out of a fairy tale. With those captivating eyes and green hair it wouldn't be hard to believe.

As the dance went on Magnus felt magnetized by Alex, his thoughts and worries slipping away as they performed the rest of the dance. The music would sound like trickling water and Magnus would spin Alex under his arm, then it would swell and they'd hold hands as Alex twirled outwards, dress blowing out like a flower in bloom.

They danced in circles again, bodies close, and Magnus noticed the slight shift in tempo as the song drew close to its end. Alex noticed it too and smiled at him, eager for the big finale of their number.

The three couples danced closer and closer until they were dancing in a small, tight circle in the middle of the dance floor. A red skirt – Magnus didn't know if it belonged to Helga or Agatha – swept by his legs and he could see Louis and Raphael over Alex's shoulder looking at each other like a couple on their wedding day. Then, as the violin in the song became more prominent, they danced outwards in wide, open arcs.

Once they reached their place at the very edge of the dance floor Magnus took Alex by the hand for the final spin. Alex's body twirled outwards elegantly, face almost glowing with a wide, happy smile and Magnus wanted to make sure that smile would always be there. Heart thumping in his chest, Magnus pulled Alex back in, smiling just as brightly as his partner. Magnus positioned his hands in the right places and as the last notes of the song played he dipped Alex down.

The music ended and the clapping from the students started, loud and excited. It was louder than a thunderstorm, some students cat-whistling, others shouting compliments in English, French, Spanish, Russian and a handful of other languages Magnus didn't recognize. His eyes, however, didn't lift up to the crowd of applauding students, nor to his friends that were being the loudest of them all.

No, his eyes stayed at Alex, panting in his arms, cheeks flushed, with a smile that could put the sun, the stars and the fucking moon at shame. His heart seemed to sync up with the loud clapping of the student body and more than ever – more than the day at the Room of Requirement, more than when they hovered together in the air, more than all the dozens of times he wanted to do it – he wanted to lean down and kiss Alex.

 _What's holding you back now?_

But before he could do it, before he could close the distance between their lips, Alex was standing up. The other two couples had broken their stances as well, Magnus saw, and the students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were spilling into the dance floor.

"Come on," Alex said and tugged on his arm. Magnus didn't get to look at his partner's eyes for long before he was being dragged to the side of the room but he could have sworn he could see a disappointed gleam in them, like Alex wouldn't have minded at all if Magnus listened to T.J's advice and finally acted on his feelings.

They were back at the buffet table and Alex was pouring both of them glasses of water. She held one out to Magnus- no, wait –

"Have your pronouns changed?" Magnus asked as he took the glass.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. He and him. How did you know?"

Magnus shrugged. He really wasn't sure what possessed him to ask. "I don't know. Lucky guess?"

Alex smiled at him and drank his water. Magnus was drinking his too when he noticed Alex's shoulder being a bit too tense, his arms hanging by his sides a bit too unnaturally, fumbling with his skirt a bit too weirdly.

"Do you… feel weird in that dress?" he asked carefully.

Alex sighed. "A bit? I don't know why, I'm funny with the school skirt even on male days. Maybe it's too long?"

"Do you want to get changed?"

Alex shrugged. "Yes, but I don't have anything else that's formal and I don't want to have to go all the way to the Slytherin dorms and miss the party."

Magnus grabbed his hand, already having an idea. "Come with me."

Alex didn't say anything else as Magnus took her to where Professor Blitzen was talking with Professor Hearthstone, the two of them standing a little bit too close. Magnus filed it away as evidence for the Blitzstone rumor that has being going around among the students since last year.

They took a step away from each other and Magnus noted that too, but he wasn't here to speculate about his teachers' love lives so he got straight to the point. "Professor Blitzen, do you happen to have a spare suit? Alex doesn't feel comfortable and he wants to change."

The short teacher realized what was happening quickly and told the two students to follow him. About ten minutes later Alex was walking out of a stall in the boys' bathroom in a suit that matched Magnus's. Why Professor Blitzen had one just lying around he didn't know but he didn't question it.

Back at the Ball, the party was going on strong. The music had switched from the instrumental that played during the Champions' dance to a more upbeat modern wizarding song which lyrics Magnus's didn't bother paying attention to. He and his friends spent the night raiding the buffet and doing the most ridiculous dance moves in a circle at the dance floor. Apparently Alex had picked up some break-dancing moves while on the streets and _damn_ where those moves impressive. T.J could do a really good wave too, he said Percy had showed him how, and Magnus danced like he was having a seizure now that nobody was telling him how to move his limbs. Raphael and Luis did a way over-the-to tango that made it obvious neither of them knew what they were doing, but at least they were passionate about it.

The party ended a bit after the obligatory conga line and the students started heading back to their rooms, though Magnus was pretty sure some of the couples were going somewhere else.

"Magnus," Alex said as he took his hand. There was a lot of hand-holding tonight, not that Magnus was complaining. "Wanna go to the Astronomy tower?"

"Yes," he said, because he couldn't say no, he could never say not to Alex.

So they went to the Astronomy tower, hand in hand, even when they didn't need to hold hands so as not to lose each other in the crowd of students anymore. They went through corridors Magnus had walked hundreds of times before and through halls he didn't even know existed. Alex was in the lead, Magnus's hand held tightly in his own as they hid behind a large suit of armor to avoid the teacher that was coming down the hall.

When they finally made it to the tower they were immediately met with the strong, cold breeze of the winter night. Magnus was about to say that maybe they should go somewhere else because they would probably freeze to death on top of one of Hogwarts' tallest towers in the middle of December but Alex took his wand from under his pant and cast a warming spell on them.

They dragged one of the benches left there from the Astronomy lessons closer to the edge and sat down. The night was beautiful, if not cold, though he couldn't feel it that much now thanks to Alex's spell. The sky was full with stars and you could see them much easier here than anywhere in London.

Their wands lay between them, the Lumos they had both cast before letting them down being the only light in the top of the tower besides the stars and the moon. Alex was still holding his hand but he said nothing. He'd love it if he never had to let go of his hand. (Plus, his hand was warm and it was really nice.)

"The stars are beautiful tonight," he finally said, laughing a bit on the inside because, you know, memes.

"You know what else is beautiful?" Alex responded.

Without thinking, Magnus said, "You?"

If Alex blushed, he couldn't tell. "You know it!" he said with a cheeky smile.

There was a moment of comfortable silence, the only sound around them the wind and the occasional louder sounds from the Forbidden Forest. Magnus looked at the trees of the forest, the thick foliage looking almost black in the light of the moon. He couldn't help but think back to the first task – the pixies hitting him from every angle, zipping across the tightwire while clinging onto the rope, having to balance on the swings while firing spells at the Thestrals and facing a goddamn _chimera_. He didn't think he could ever see the forest again and not be reminded of the task.

When he was in second year he remembered being jealous of the older students for going to Beauxbatons to see the Tournament, and while he wanted to watch it, he definitely never thought he'd have to take part in it. He could understand now, better than an observer could, why people said the tournament was dangerous. He couldn't blame his friends, couldn't blame Alex for being worrying about him.

 _What's holding you back?_

He heard T.J's words in his head again and seriously, did his friend learn how to get in people's minds? Still, even if T.J knew Legilimency and Magnus didn't know, the question still remained. What was holding him back? He's taking part in the Triwizard Tournament, he fought with a _fucking_ chimera, what was scaring him so much that he couldn't talk to Alex and tell him he wanted to be more than just friends?

"You know you're still holding my hand, right?" Alex asked. Ironic considering he had been tracing circles with his thumb over Magnus's knuckles for the last few minutes.

"Yeah." Magnus nodded. He didn't let go. "Do you want me to let go?"

"No, I don't." Alex smiled at him before turning his eyes back at the sky. He gave Magnus's hand a squeeze. "I just wanted to see if you had noticed."

 _Do it,_ something in him told him. _Just do it. This is your last year - your last shot. Take it._

And, unlike every other time his mind had pushed him to do this, Magnus didn't shoot back with half-backed excuses. Unconsciously, he squeezed Alex's hand before he spoke. His voice sounded soft among the wind that was whipping against the tower.

"Alex?"

"Mm?"

"At the infirmary, after the first task…" _Come on, you can do it. Just ask._ Yet as much as he tried to calm himself down his heart still beat ridiculously loud, louder than the chimera's roar. "Why did you kiss me on the cheek?"

Alex didn't respond. For one slow, excruciating the only sound around them was the howling of the wind and the sloshing of the waves at the Big Lake below them. Magnus's hand was sweating inside Alex's and he was sure he had noticed. Every bit of confidence that had possessed him to speak was leaving him by the second and he would have taken what he said back if Alex hadn't spoken, voice carefree and nervous at the same time.

"I was glad you were alright and I wanted to kiss you on the cheek so I did."

Maybe it was how anxious he had gotten over asking something so simple but Magnus couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Yeah, that seems like you. Has there ever been something you wanted to do that you didn't do?"

Alex smiled at him, the kind of 'if only you knew' smile his mother would give him whenever he asked her if she loved him. "Some things. You?"

 _Come on, this is it. Do it!_

The moon made Alex's hair look silvery green, his eyes twinkled under the light of their wands and Magnus was drowning in them. His suit jacket was laying somewhere behind them on the floor and his tie hand loosely around his neck. He looked beautiful. Magnus wanted to kiss him.

"I've wanted to kiss you but I haven't done it yet."

Alex's smile was wide, brighter than the moon and the stars. His hand on Magnus's was warm as he traced designs on his skin. "I've wanted to do that too. Do you still want to?"

"Always."

They leaned in slowly, as if pulled by a magnet. Their lips met in the middle over their joint hands, slow and hesitant. Alex moved his lips against Magnus's and they were soft yet chapped from the cold, tasting like the food they ate at the buffet table and strawberry. Magnus tried to follow his movements, the part of him that feared he would mess this up being drowned out by then part of him that wanted to kiss Alex till he didn't know how to do anything else.

Alex reached a hand up and put it behind his neck, pulling him closer. Magnus brought his own hand up to Alex's shoulder, his other hand still holding Alex's tightly. He felt more at ease now and he kissed Alex easier, with more confidence. Alex smiled against him lips and pushed back, not about to be outdone by Magnus. His teeth grazed Magnus's bottom lip lightly before sucking on it a bit. Magnus's hand tightened around the fabric of Alex's shirt, feeling lightheaded and deliriously happy.

They pulled apart slowly but didn't go back to their original places. They stayed close, their faces centimeters apart, their panting breath mingling. Magnus was smiling like an idiot and so was Alex.

"Merlin, I've wanted to do that for a long time," Alex said as he smiled, sighing deeply as he tried to catch his breath.

"How long?" Magnus asked quietly. He felt like he would break whatever spell was over them if he spoke louder.

Alex traced circles over Magnus's knuckles and Magnus saw a bit of a blush on his face thanks to the light from their wands. "Since before Christmas last year. At least that's when I realized it. You?"

Magnus was blushing as he answered but he didn't care. "Since the start of sixth year, I think. Probably since before that, too."

The smile from Alex's face was replaced with a stunned expression for a moment before he burst out laughing. "Wow. So we've liked each other all this time-"

"- but we said nothing," Magnus continued, smiling over their own stupidity.

"We're idiots," Alex said.

"Yeah, we are," Magnus chuckled.

Alex scooted closer to him and wiggled his eyebrows at him. "Want to make up for lost time?"

"Definitely."


	21. Second Task

**(My parents were asleep and the keys were in their room, I had to climb out of the door's window to go post this on the stairs. The things I do for you)**

 **The second task is here! Just so you know, when I told my sister what this task was going to be she looked me dead in the eye and told "Wow, Dumbledore must be jealous he didn't think of that" and "Oh, shit. Please tell me they have cursed at you for what you write". So, yeah.**

 **Also, if you think the chapter with the first task was big you haven't seen anything. This thing is almost 10.7k words. Yes, it's big, but I assume you don't mind that.**

 **Anyway, time for the pain. Enjoy!**

* * *

Dating Alex Fierro was great. Actually, great was an understatement. It was bloody fucking amazing. And no, he wasn't overreacting. (Okay, maybe a little bit, but cut him some slack.)

Since they got together right before Christmas and everybody left for the holidays, they had all the time in the world to go on as many dates as they wanted and boy, did they take advantage of that. They were out of the house pretty much every day, sometimes doing little more than just walking around holding hands, but Magnus loved it nonetheless.

They'd walk around London hand in hand, bundled up in warm clothes and just enjoy the city and the festive atmosphere. They'd visit some park – whichever they stumbled upon – and play in the snow. They'd make a competition out of building things from snow and Alex always won but then Magnus would through snow at her and they'd start a snowball fight. One time, a little kid asked if he could play too and soon enough every child in the park was divided between the two of them and they were having the most epic snowball war in history.

They'd eat lunch outside and they wouldn't go back at Perthro until it was time for diner, after which they'd cuddle up on Magnus's bed and watch a movie (or multiple movies). Making Alex leave his room when it was time to go to sleep was probably the most difficult thing because Alex would just cling on him more, make puppy eyes at him and kiss him to distract him (she was a cuddler and Magnus was like her own personal heater, don't judge her). It worked and she would win one extra hour before Magnus made her leave. They didn't need another awkward talk from Blitzen and Hearthstone.

Their teachers and guardians picked up on the fact that they were together fast, probably because Alex would tease Magnus all the time to make him blush and once she succeeded she'd call him cute and kiss him on the cheek.

…Yeah, they weren't subtle.

And that lack of subtlety lead to them being sat down by Blitzen and Hearthstone so they could be given the Talk. The whole thing ended with Magnus and Alex blushing like mad and knowing where the, um, "safe products" were kept. Needless to say they weren't eager for a repeat of that conversation.

The same routine went on for the entirety of the holidays and Magnus couldn't be happier. The message on the parchment and the Task he would have to compete in next were completely forgotten until he stepped foot on the Hogwarts Express.

They were walking to their compartment at the train, hands clasped between them as Magnus talked about that to Alex, letting his boyfriend today know about his worries concerning the Second Task.

"Hey," Alex said as he squeezed Magnus's hand to make him look at him. The familiar feeling of Alex's hand in his helped to calm him down, but he could still feel the worry creeping up his spine like a snake.

"It's going to be alright," Alex said. "You're gonna go out there and mop the floor with Helga's face and you're going to be awesome while doing it, I'm sure of it." Alex leaned forward to kiss Magnus on the lips and Magnus smiled into the kiss.

It was then that the door of the compartment opened and T.J walked out. "I'm going to go find-" he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Magnus and Alex kissing in front of the compartment and he turned back to their friends. "Found them!"

Magnus was flushing brighter than a light bulb as they walked into their compartment, their friends all looking at them and their joint hands with big smiles on their faces.

"Well, we were gonna have to tell them somehow," Alex amended, not sounding guilty at all. Magnus would have glared at him if he wasn't too busy glaring at Mallory who was wiggling her eyebrows at them. "Guys, Magnus and I are dating. This dork is mine!"

"It's about time!" Mallory yelled.

"If you took any longer we would have tried to set you up," T.J, who was plopped down next to Mallory, said. "Honestly, we were expecting you to get together by the Yule Ball at the latest."

"That's when we got together, actually," Alex said as he and Magnus sat down next to Sam, who smiled at them and gave them thumbs up. "I call dibs on best woman at the wedding," she whispered into Magnus's ear, making the blonde go red and glare at her before he got an idea and whispered to her, "Only if I'm best man at your wedding with Amir." Sam blushed redder than a tomato and Magnus felt satisfied.

"I knew it!" T.J yelled as he jumped to his feet, fists up in the air in victory. "In knew that's when you'd get together! Mallory, Sam, pay up!"

"You betted on us?" Magnus asked incredulous.

As Mallory and Sam were digging in their pockets for their money, T.J looked at Magnus over his shoulder with the most confused expression in the world, like Magnus had just asked him if fish can swim. "Well, duh."

Magnus couldn't help himself; he burst out laughing. It was there, laughing with his friends in a compartment in the Hogwarts Express like they always did, that Magnus was able to put his worries about the second task aside for now. It was going to be fine, like Alex said. How much worse than the First Task could it be?

* * *

Magnus could only wish that he was feeling that confident a few weeks later, at the morning of the Second Task. He was already wearing his uniform for the Task, and so was Raphael, who was having breakfast at the Beauxbatons table. Strangely enough, Louis wasn't by his side today and it surprised Magnus to say the least – those two were practically joined at the hip. He didn't ponder on it for long, though; Louis could simply have slept in late, or maybe he was in the kitchens stress-baking. Besides, he had his own troubles to worry about – like the fact he kept postponing figuring out the riddle in favor of spending time with Alex.

He just – he forgot about it. He told himself he would work on it during the holidays, but then he and Alex got together and it flew out of his mind. He'd then tell himself it didn't matter and that he still had time to solve it when school started again but then they got back at Hogwarts and Magnus would put it aside in favor of dates and cuddling and even studying together. So yeah – he forgot. Damn Alex and her nice kisses!

Speaking of Alex, the green-haired troublemaker was nowhere to be seen. Magnus hadn't seen her since yesterday, when they had spent the afternoon together at the Room of Requirement, just hanging out and working on homework (and kissing) to get Magnus to relax before the Second Task.

"Are you sure you haven't seen Alex around?" Magnus asked as he played around with the food on his plate.

"I had gone to sleep before she came back to our dorm, but her bed was made this morning so she must have left before we woke up," Mallory said casually. It wasn't weird for Alex to come back to their dorm late – she did that a lot when she was working on a drawing and needed to get a change of scenery.

Still, that didn't reassure Magnus a lot. He heard Sam and Mallory complain about Alex never making her bed hundreds of times – something in him doubted that if she suddenly wanted to draw in the morning she'd take the time make her bed. He wouldn't be surprised if she didn't even put clothes on because she was too busy drawing!

He didn't get to ask his friends any more questions because the bell soon sounded and the students run out of the Hall of the Slain excitedly, eager to see what the Second Task had to offer.

"Good luck, Magnus!" Sam called out to him as he was making his way to the back door of the dining hall, like Headmaster Odin had instructed him.

"Kick their asses, Magnus!" Mallory yelled, her cupped hands making a cone in front of her mouth to make sure everyone in a ten kilometers radius will hear her.

"Go show them who's boss!" T.J cheered, fist pumping in the air. Magnus smiled at them and gave them a thumbs up before walking through the door.

The three Headmasters were waiting for them in the back room. Raphael and Helga were already there and Raphael waved at him with a smile. Magnus returned the silent greeting as they all sat down on a bench so the Headmasters could explain to them what the task would be about.

Or, that's what Magnus thought they'd do, but instead their explanation was just as cryptic as the riddle from bottle. Apparently the task relied heavily on them not knowing much about what they were going to face. The pre-task speech was more about the importance of fair play than anything else and Magnus soon found himself tuning it out – and from what he could see, Raphael and Helga were doing the same thing.

He started repeating the riddle in his head, trying to see what he could come up with.

 _In dusty corridors you will find us._ That's the location of the Task, but it told him little more than the fact they would compete in a closed space.

 _And know our guards will not let us go without a fuss._ That, along with the line after the next, _what they guard you need to save that for which you care unconditionally_ _ **,**_ made it clear to Magnus that they would have to take something that someone was guarding, but he wasn't sure what that something was or what they would need to save with it.

As for the guards themselves, they only had three characteristics to go off of and Magnus really regretted not taking his time to research that part to see what they might be referring to.

The last two lines were the time limit, but what send chills down Magnus's spine was the last line. _Too late – we're sorry, your treasure is gone._ It brought back memories of the night four years ago, the scorching heat of the flames as the home he had spent his whole life in burned down around him, his mother trapped under the remains of their ceiling.

"Alright, let's get going," Headmaster Sonia said as she gestured at the door leading back to the dining hall. The three Champions got up from their bench and stood behind the Headmasters, their expressions deadly serious. They all knew what they were about to take part in wasn't going to be a walk through the park.

The moment the door opened and Magnus stepped back into the Hall of the Slain he was greeted by the cacophony of voices from the stands. The hall had been cleared from tables, looking like it did when Magnus and the other Hufflepuffs decorated it for the Halloween party. The stands were the audience was sitting were mounted on the walls, like balconies in a theater. Magnus noticed his friends on one of the balconies, their eyes locked on him. His stomach dropped when he saw that Alex wasn't there and he realized why when he looked at the middle of the hall.

There, in the middle of the room were three long tables arranged in a triangle, each with its own cauldron and items needed to brew a potion. In front of the tables was what made Magnus's blood run cold in his veins – Alex's body was lying motionless like a corpse on a table, her eyes closed and her cheeks devoid of color. She looked like a dead body waiting to be dressed before a funeral and Magnus hated thinking of her like that.

"A-Alex!" Magnus found himself crying out as he ran forward to where Alex was lying. He grabbed her hand immediately and he gasped at how cold her skin was. His fingers fumbled as her tried to take her pulse and he almost dropped her hand once in his hurry. His eyes burned with unshed tears and he felt his heart stop beating when he wasn't able to feel a pulse.

"No no no no no…" He kept chanting his mantra without realizing as he moved his hands, hoping with everything he had that he had made a mistake, that Alex wasn't – that she wasn't-

 _She's not dead. She's not dead. She_ can't _be dead. Merlin almighty, please let her not be dead._

But he felt nothing, nothing but cold waxy skin –

 _Thump thump thump._

Magnus let out the breath his was holding when he felt Alex's pulse underneath his fingertips. He smiled relieved, but the smile soon fell from his face when he realized how slow and faint it was.

"Louis! Louis! Mon cher, s'il te plait, reveille toi!" Raphael was by Louis's side, holding the blonde's face in his hands and whispering French at him. Yet as much as he talked and cried out, Louis remained unmoving.

"Agatha!" Helga was standing by Agatha's body, her knees trembling visibly, her palms covering her mouth as if they would stop her crying from coming out. Her knees seemed to give out and she rushed forward, taking Agatha into her arms. She held her friend in her arms as she mumbled rapidly in Swedish – _"Fan, sn_ _ä_ _lla vakna, jag ber dig, vakna"_. She cupped Agatha's face gently before moving her hand downwards to her slender neck and feeling for her pulse.

"Champions!" Headmaster Gilbert called out. "Please step aside from your friends!"

"What's going on?" Raphael was looking at the Headmasters but he didn't stop cradling Louis's head in his hands. Agatha was still in Helga's arms and Magnus was holding Alex's hand in both of his own.

"We will explain shortly, but please step aside for now." As much as they didn't want to, the three Champions stepped away from their significant others and friend like they were told to, if only just barely.

"Students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, my dear guests, it's time for the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament!" Headmaster Odin's cheery tone felt very out of place as Magnus held onto Alex's cold hand. "As you know, each Champion got a bottle with a piece of parchment inside at the end of the last task. On that parchment was a clue about today's task."

Headmaster Sonia went on to recite the poem from the parchment as Magnus let his eyes wander back down to Alex's body. She looked so calm. One could have assumed she was just sleeping if it wasn't for her being a bit to still, her breathing a bit too slow, her skin a bit too cold. It was so easy for his mind to replace their surroundings with crumbling walls and scorching flames.

"On each table is parchment," Headmaster Gilbert went on. "On the parchment is a lead to the first of three special ingredients necessary to heal their friends. Each one of them has been given a slow-acting poison. It will take two more hours for it to take full effect. In that time they must get all three ingredients and brew the antidote according to the instructions they will find on their table. The-"

"You _what_?" A loud, furious voice interrupted the Beauxbatons's Headmaster. Helga had put Agatha back down on the table carefully and was now walking to the Headmasters like a soldier on a mission. Her shoulders were held back, her brows were furrowed and her eyes seemed to have fire burning inside them – she looked like she was willing to bring down a building to get what she wanted.

"You mean to tell me you _poisoned_ three students, you poisoned _Agatha,_ all for your stupid Tournament?" Venom dripped from her every word and she was glaring at the Headmasters so hard it was a wonder they hadn't dropped dead on the spot. For the first time since he met her, Magnus found himself agreeing with Helga.

"Miss Leifsson, please calm down," Headmaster Odin said as he put a hand on Helga's shoulder. She whipped around to him and threw his hand off her like she wanted to break it.

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down! I knew this Tournament was dangerous and I was prepared for that when I put my name in the Goblet, but you have no right to put Agatha in danger like this!"

"Miss Leifsson." The stern voice of Headmaster Sonia made Helga turn around. "I suggest you leave your complains about the Tournament for later." Helga opened her mouth to talk but her Headmaster cut her off. "If we have this discussion now it will cause your friend valuable time."

That seemed to finally calm Helga down, or at least enough so that she looked like she was only _thinking_ about murdering the teachers in front of her instead of being on the brink of doing it. "Alright," she said with a tight voice and moved back to her table.

"I believe we are now ready to start," Headmaster Odin said. "Like last time, the floating cameras will be showing the Champions' progress to the audience. Champions, please take the parchment in your hands."

Magnus didn't want to let go of Alex's hand. He knew what happened to his mother when he let her go that night in the fire; he didn't want the same to happen again.

 _It won't,_ he told himself with all the confidence he could master. _You'll save her. You'll get those goddamn ingredients and make the antidote. You can_ do _something this time._

He took the parchment in his hands.

"Get ready."

He closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. He could swear the air around him was getting warmer, like he was standing inside an over. He could hear the crackling of flame in his ears.

"Set."

 _Focus. You have this. You can do it. Alex won't burn._

"Go!"

Magnus untied the thin string that was holding the parchment together and opened it. One of the floating cameras was flying over his shoulder, showing the message of the parchment on the screen.

" _ **My guardian's bite is worse than its growl  
you'll find me in the room of souls.  
They have tales to tell but they have no voice;  
they have scenes to show but they have no sight."**_

Magnus's first thought was that the 'room of souls' referred to ghosts, but then the last two lines made no sense – Magnus knew plenty of ghosts in Hogwarts and not one of them was close to having no voice. He couldn't think of any ghosts that were blind either, so that ruled ghosts out.

Paintings were ruled out in much the same way. He raked his brain to figure out what it was the riddle was referring to. The 'room of souls' wasn't much help, so he focused on the last lines. Stories told with no voice, scenes shown with no sight… No sound, no pictures…

Magnus's eyes widened as he realized were he needed to go. He scrunched the parchment in his hand, not bothering to fold it, and run out of the Hall of the Slain as fast as he could with the bag he found on the table hanging from his shoulder.

"Magnus Chase is leaving the dining hall, ladies and gentlemen! It seems like he has figured out the riddle!" Professor Thor was the announcer once more and hearing his cheery voice made Magnus's pulse pick up with rage. _You're commenting on a competition with people's_ lives _in the line! You shouldn't sound happy!_

Magnus was running down the corridor, his steps almost as loud as the beating of his heart. There was a bad, sour taste in his mouth at the thought of what would happen if he took one wrong step, if he was a minute late, but he pushed it down. _Don't think about it. Focus on the task._

He saw the floating cameras flying by his side but he paid it no mind, letting his legs follow the path he had taken so many times in his seven years at Hogwarts. Yet the familiar halls felt strange and cold now without the students milling about. The knowledge that Alex's life was in the line made the once well known castle feel unwelcome.

He turned the corner and run into the Hogwarts library. The bookcases were pushed to the side, making a wide corridor was created down the middle to the windows. Magnus realized what the room of souls must have meant; this was a room full of books, works that their authors had poured blood, sweat and tears into. He had heard people saying that a book held a little bit of the author's soul in it (the librarian in his old neighborhood would say that), but that was still a very dramatic way to describe a library.

Magnus recognized the window where his favorite table was, the place he had studied at so many times and exchanged gifts with his friends at Christmas.

Sitting in front of that very window was a large beast. Its body was that of a lion, its golden fur glistening in the light coming in from the windows. But instead of a lion's head it had a human one, its long hair looking like a mane. It's face looked human enough, but the closer Magnus got the more details he was able to make out. Its eyes were yellow and its pupils silted, its nose resembled a snout and sharp teeth picked out from its lips.

Magnus knew what it was very well. A Sphinx.

Behind it, inside a glass box, was a vial of purple liquid.

"Ah, so you are the first Champion that has come to try and solve my riddles." The beast's voice was low and it reminded Magnus of a lion's growl. He recalled the line in the riddle and his stomach dropped when he remembered what a Sphinx does to anyone who can't answer its riddles.

"I have to admit, you're shorter than I expected," the Sphinx went on. "But then again, a man's intelligence is not measured by his physical might. I should know, I've eaten many a strongmen with not a drop of knowledge in their heads." The Sphinx shrugged, Magnus never though he would have seen a lion (or someone with a lion's body) shrug. "They were tasty snacks."

"What's your riddle?" Magnus asked as confidently as he could. Yet as much as he tried to make his voice sound even he knew it trembled a bit at the end, that his hands were sweating way too much where they were clenched by his sides.

The Sphinx frowned at Magnus before sighing deeply. "Now, don't be so serious. Let's have some fun, shall we?"

Magnus would have protested that he has no time to have fun with a beast that could easily kill him when his girlfriend's life was in danger but the words stuck in his throat when the Sphinx started getting up. It stood up on its hind legs, easily two heads taller than the bookcases. Magnus pictured really clearly how easy it would be for the beast to pick him up by his head and eat him like a piece of falafel.

The Sphinx gave a sharp jab at the wall with its elbow. The curtains by the windows fell closed, plunging the room in shadow. Then, as Magnus was looking around alarmed, a spotlight fell on the Sphinx, making its hair glow under the light. It pulled a bowtie and a top hat from somewhere inside its mane and looked at Magnus with a smirk on its lips.

"It's time for everyone's favorite game, 'Riddles and Disembowelment'!"

Magnus was left speechless as a two shining blue podiums rolled in, not unlike those in game-shows. The one that stopped in front of the Sphinx had a shining name plate on it that read "Alfred the Sphinx". The one that must be for Magnus had a name plate reading "Fool #1".

"Please, take your place!" The Sphinx – Alfred – said, gesturing to Magnus's podium with a paw. Magnus went there quietly, still very confused about what he was seeing. Did someone slip something into his food this morning?

"The rules of the game are simple," Alfred started, wearing that stupid game-show host smile on his lips. "I tell you three riddles and you have as much time as you want to answer them. If you answer at least two correctly, you can get your reward." He gestured at the glass case. "If you don't get at least two correct, well, that's better for me, I suppose!" Magnus saw Alfred's paw press down slightly and a recorded laugh track rang out in the library. Magnus wondered if the laugh track would play while Alfred ate him, but he decided not to think too much about that.

"So, should we start?" Alfred asked with a wide smile that showed all of his sharp teeth. _Well, that just helps my confidence._

Despite the fear coursing through him at the sight of those teeth, Magnus nodded. "Yes."

Alfred seemed delighted by his answer and he smiled even wider. "Alright! First riddle!" The Sphinx took of his top hat and made a big show of searching inside it, moving his paw inside it a lot and making faces, as if he was consecrating very hard on this. Finally, he pulled his paw out with a loud "Aha!" It was a bizarre enough sight as it was but what made it weirder was the dramatic music playing in the background.

"How do you build a house whose every wall faces the south?" Alfred said the question the same way every game-show host did; in a stern, deadly serious voice, with pauses between words for extra dramatic effect.

Magnus repeated the riddle in his head, trying to figure it out. It was weird how he felt confident he'll be able to solve the riddles easily a moment ago yet the second it was asked his mind went blank.

He tried to see if it would be possible for a house like that to be build in any normal neighborhood, but that was quickly scrapped. Even if two walls faced the south at an angle, the other two would face the north. Then he thought of building it in the South Pole and he almost opened his mouth to answer. Alfred raised an eyebrow at him but Magnus shut his mouth as he realized that if the house was in the most southern point in the earth all its walls would face north.

 _So, then…_

"You build it in the north pole," he said. "This way, everything else will be south from it."

Magnus couldn't deny that his heart was beating louder in anticipation as Alfred's remained serious, giving him no clue as to whether he was correct or not. The dramatic music rose steadily in tempo and after a good minute of looking straight into the contestant's eyes, like any good game-show host should, Alfred spoke.

"And that was…" A wide grin spread across the Sphinx's face. "Correct!"

A recorded applause started playing when Alfred slapped the podium in excitement over Magnus's correct answer.

"Let's move on to the next riddle then! You have a room with a single light-bulb inside and three switches outside the room. The door of the room is closed, you can only open it and go inside once and you can't leave it open. How do you figure out which is the correct switch?"

Magnus scrunched his eyebrows and ducked down his head, drawing designs in the slick surface of the podium so he wouldn't get confused. His first thought was that you just open and close the switches with the door open, but the Alfred said he couldn't leave it open.

 _How do you know if the light is on in a room with a closed door?_

Memories came back to Magnus suddenly, his young self clutching his goat plushy as he looked up and down the hall for his mother after a nightmare. He'd see the light spilling out from the crack under his mother's bedroom and he'd run to her, tears almost falling from his eyes.

"You turn on and off each switch and look under the crack in the door to see if any light is coming through."

Once more, Magnus didn't know immediately if what he said was correct because of that _goddamn_ dramatic music. Who made that music, anyway? Because it was getting annoying. There was even a part that sounded like someone had told a five year old to count to five and then press the _same stupid piano note._

"That was…." More of that blasted drum roll. "Wrong! Oh, too bad!"

Booing sounded out in the library and Magnus was considering taking whatever sound box this Sphinx had and making him eat it. _I don't have time for this! I need to get to Alex!_

"The correct answer is this," the Sphinx started. "You turn on the first switch and leave it on for a few minutes. After you turn it off, you turn on the second one and open the door. If the light is one the correct switch is the second. If the light is off and the light-bulb is hot it's the first switch and if it's cold it's the third one."

Magnus felt like hitting his head on something for not thinking of that. (Or maybe he could hit Alfred's head on something.)

"Aww, don't be like that! You still have one last riddle!" Alfred's over-exaggerated sympathy wasn't really helping him much – Magnus was still annoyed at him. Why are all show hosts like this?

"Of course," the Sphinx continued, "it'll be the most difficult one, but people love an underdog, right?" More of that blasted applause track.

"If I don't answer it correctly you'll eat me, right?" Magnus wasn't sure why he asked. Maybe he wanted to make sure that if he died today at least Alfred would make his corpse into a healthy meal.

"Eat you?" Alfred started laughing, his laughter just as exaggerated as everything else he did. "Oh, please, do you know how unhealthy humans are? If I ate you not only would I be in trouble with the Ministry and have to pay a heavy fine but I'd get indigestion for two weeks! Nah, I'll just have a limb. Probably from the knee below too, to be honest. I prefer females. They have juicier meat."

Magnus took that in quietly. There was something very bizarre about a giant cat with a human face speaking about you like meat at the butcher's.

"Anyway, enough with my dietary habits, time for the last riddle!" The music's tempo picked as did Magnus's heartbeat. He had to get this one right. If he didn't get this one right Alex would be a goner and he'd be a limb shorter.

"You have ten sacks of gold coins. Each sack was a hundred coins at the most. Each coin weights 10 grams but one sack has fake coins that weight 9 grams. You can weigh the coins, but only once and you're not allowed to take or add anything to what you weigh. How do you know which sack has the fake coins?"

Magnus's eyes widened as he heard the riddle and he gulped. Oh great, he's back at math class. "Can I have a piece of paper and a pencil?" he asked.

"Oh, of course." The Sphinx handed him what he asked for and he got to work.

First, he tried to calculate how much each sack would weigh. But the riddle never specified how many coins were in each sack; it just said it they had a hundred coins max. So then what about calculating how much ten coins from each bag would weight? That's 100 coins that weigh 1000 grams. If one sack has face coins then ten of those coins would weigh 90 grams and the total weigh would be 990 grams instead of 1000. But then that doesn't tell you which sack has the fakes. So then…

Magnus did a few quick calculations before allowing himself to grin. Yes, this must be it!

"Do you have the answer?" Alfred asked. The music was low and ominous.

"Yes." Magnus's heart was beating louder than the music and something in him told him to stop and reconsider, but he had two more ingredients to find and he couldn't afford staying here any longer. "You weigh one coin from sack number one, two from the second, three from the third and so on. That should give you a total weight of 550 grams for 55 coins if all coins were real, but one sack has fakes, so it'll be less than that. You know what sack has the fakes because of how many grams are missing. If the final weight is, for example, 547 grams you're missing three grams, so the one with the fakes is the third sack."

Magnus let out a breath when he finished his answer. The music had become white noise and he no longer paid attention to it. Alfred's expression was truly surprised, his silted eyes wide and his mouth hanging wide.

"I… wow. That's the one most people get wrong," he said quietly and Magnus was so surprised by the fact his reaction wasn't over-the-top that it almost didn't register in him. "Well, guess I'm not having you as a snack today! You won!"

"Magnus Chase has done it! The Hogwarts Champion has managed to get the first ingredient!" Magnus could hear Professor Thor making announcements from somewhere as 'We are the Champions' started playing in the library.

Confetti burst out from somewhere behind the bookcases and Alfred handed Magnus the glass box and the key that opened it. Magnus snatched the key out of the Sphinx's paw faster than he thought he could and opened the box, putting the vial inside his back. Under the vial was a slip of parchment.

He run out of the library with a hasty bye (he knew creatures like Sphinxes valued manners) and read the message on the parchment.

" _ **Come find me quick 'cause I'm afraid of heights.  
To my guardian, manners hold lots of weight.  
My guardian wants to take to the sky but he's stuck underground.  
At least there's a lot of space around."**_

Magnus didn't think much about and immediately started running for the dungeons. The guardian is stuck underground, so that's obviously in the dungeons. Afraid of heights and a lot of space around… Magnus was finally glad for all the time he had spent wandering around the castle with Alex and Annabeth and Percy. He knew just were the second ingredient must be.

His steps sounded louder and louder the deeper he went into the dungeons, the sound echoing of the walls. The air was much more humid here, he could practically taste the moistness in the air. He run past the classrooms, past the corridor he knew lead to the Slytherin common room, past the locked storage rooms.

Finally, he found the room he was searching for. Magnus and Alex had found it back in fourth year, when he was showing Alex around the castle and she wanted to explore the dungeons. They found this room, circular and tall, taller than the dining hall, and they nicknamed it "Echo Room" because it their voices echoed really loudly there. They spent a little more than half an hour here, yelling stupid things at the top of their voices. Magnus really wished he was there again to hear Alex yell "I WANT A DIVORCE" and "MOTHERFUCKING GOLD SHITTING DUCKS" instead of trying to get ingredients for the antidote to the poison she was given.

The room was used for storage, like most unused rooms in the dungeons, and it was one of those rooms that was completely forgotten. Everything inside it – old broken desks, filling cabinets, chairs, bookcases of yellow-paged books – were covered by a thick blanket of dust. Alex had joked that sneezing inside here would create a dust-storm.

And in the middle of the room, inside an object-free clearing, stood a Hippogriff. The feathers on its head were snow-white and they changed to brown at its neck. Its horse hind legs matched the color of its brown feathers perfectly. Its black tail and its wings twitched irritably, its large talons scratched at the ground. Magnus knew it _really_ didn't want to be down here, trapped under the weight of the whole castle, and its annoyance meant trouble for Magnus.

 _One wrong step and I'll get my eyes clawed out._

He took slow steps around the room, making sure to stick to the unused objects lining the walls. He knew the winged beast wouldn't attack him if he kept his distance and that's what he did as he looked around for where the next potion ingredient was. Yet as much as he looked, opening cabinets and searching the top of bookcases, he couldn't find it. He had circled the whole room and found nothing.

 _Afraid of heights, afraid of heights…_

An idea came to him like a flash and he looked upwards. There, stuck to the ceiling, was a glass box with a bunch of some sort of weeds inside that Magnus couldn't recognize from the ground.

Magnus gulped as he realized what he had to do and he steadied himself before taking the first step. He waited until the Hippogriff had turned to him and he locked eyes with the large beast. He remembered what he had learned at Care of Magical Creatures and he didn't break eye contact with the winged beast.

Fortunately, the Hippogriff didn't lunge at him. It recognized Magnus etiquette, that the human in front of it respected it and showed back the appropriate politeness. Magnus walked forward excruciatingly slow, careful not to make any sudden movements. When he was bet a few steps away from the Hippogriff, he bowed.

He stayed there – bowed over, the dusty floor the only thing he could see – for what seemed like a century. Every second felt like an hour, every beat of his heart like a week. All he could think was Alex on that table, cold and motionless, getting closer and closer to what he hated to think about with every moment he spent here. He wanted to get this over with, he wanted the Hippogriff to just bow back already so he could get the ingredient and save Alex.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the Hippogriff bowed down and Magnus saw its feathered head touch the ground. He waited until it stood up again and followed suit. He gently placed his hands at the side of the beast's head and looked into its orange eyes. He knew attempting to ride a Hippogriff the first time he met it could be trouble but it was the only idea he had that didn't result in him having one less eye.

"Please, may I ride on your back?" He asked slowly. He looked into the Hippogriffs eyes, trying to convey all the things he needed to tell it and couldn't find the words for. "Please, it's urgent. Alex… she…"

Thankfully, the Hippogriff seemed to understand the desperation in his eyes and made a crooning sound in the back of its throat. It bowed down its head again along with its legs, his body now low enough for Magnus to climb on.

Once on the beast's back, Magnus wrapped his arms around the Hippogriff's neck. "Up there," he said, pointing to the ceiling. The Hippogriff seemed to understand because it made a high-pitched noise before jumping up in the air, its wings unfolding at each side of its body.

Magnus screamed despite himself; the sudden take off startling him and making him almost slipping off the Hippogriff. He managed to hold on, his hands clutching at the beast's feathers. The Hippogriff flew in circles around the room, relishing in the feeling of finally using its wings. It didn't indulge in it for too long though – it knew that the little human ridding on its back needed its help and it could cost such a polite human his mate.

Finally, the Hippogriff reached the highest point it could each inside the enclosed space. Magnus carefully stood up on the beast's back, feeling the Hippogriff's muscles move under his feet as it beat its wings. He reach up and screamed when he felt himself wobble, but he quickly spread his arms out to steady himself.

He tried again, his fingers brushing the cool glass. He found that this box didn't have a lock and key like Alfred's, but getting to the box was more challenge than finding a key. Opening the glass box, he reached his hand inside and took the small bunch off weeds along with the small parchment under it.

"Alright, I got it," he said as he petted the back of the Hippogriff's head. The Hippogriff responded with a happy cry and flew to the ground.

"And Magnus Chase has taken the second ingredient! He only needs one more before he can make the potion and save his treasure! The time that remains is an hour and five minutes!"

 _One more ingredient. One more and I can save Alex._

He turned back to the Hippogriff and bowed. "Thank you," he said and then left the room. His feet carried him through the familiar halls without him thinking much about it. He unfolded the parchment as he turned a corner and he read the message written on it with dark ink.

" _ **Come find me where the present, past and future are seen  
but know my guardian will show you things you won't want to see.  
Be prepared, Champion, be brave;  
Fears cannot be easily tamed."**_

Magnus cursed inwardly. The Divination classroom was at the other side of the castle – walking, it would take him twenty to twenty five minutes to get there from the dungeons. Taking that long was out of the question so he started running.

His feet hitting the stone floor sounded like the ticking of a clock, each step bringing him closer to the two-hour time limit. He run through the halls as fast as he could, his legs and lungs soon burning but he didn't slow down. He would have enough time to collapse on the ground and pant after he saved Alex; right now he had not time to spare.

He pasted the empty classrooms, pasted the vacant corridors, the portraits on the walls looking at him with curiosity as he run by. His blood run through his veins so hard he could hear it in his ears and his heartbeat seemed to drown out all other sounds. He crossed paths with Raphael at one point, but they didn't acknowledge each other past a quick glance – they both had something much more important to do now.

He reached the stairs that lead up the tower to the Divination classroom and climbed them two at a time. His legs were yelling at him to stop but he didn't, not until he reached the top of the stairs. He let himself take a deep breath before sprinting to classroom. He had never taken this class, but Mallory and T.J had and he often came with them up here when he didn't have a class and wanted to walk around. Even despite all the times he had come up here, he had never been inside the class.

The room was more like an attic than anything else; you had to open a trapdoor and pull down a folding ladder to get to it. Inside, the roof made a tall cone above his head. Tapestries decorated the walls and drapes were hung across the ceiling, making the room feel like the inside of a dark circus tent. The desks – meaning the low tables and cushions the students sat on – were pushed to the walls, leaving space in the middle of the room. Opposite Magnus, next to wooden chest, was a small table with the only source of light in the room on it, one lit candle on either side of the glass box. Inside it was a much smaller wooden box with a metal clasp at the front.

Magnus took a moment to look around, baffled by the absence of a guard. This was the last and final ingredient, he expected this to be the most difficult part and yet no one was around. Something in him didn't like this, it seemed too easy, felt too much like a trap. Still, he found himself stepping forward, his hand reaching out for the box in front of him. Whatever this trap might be, he would face it and win. For Alex.

He had hardly taken two steps towards the glass box when a gust of wind blew out the candles. At the same there was a loud bang and the trapdoor behind him shut closed. What little light there was in the room disappeared and Magnus blinked to try and get used to the sudden darkness. He looked around him frantically, searching for the source of the wind and this ingredient's guardian, but he could see nothing in the dark. He run to the trapdoor and pulled on the handle. Locked. _Of course._

"Lumos," he said, but nothing happened. _What?_ "Lumos," he tried again and again nothing. Fear spread through him and he felt his blood run cold as he realized what was happening.

 _Magic nullification. They've made it so no magic can be cast inside the room._

Cold sweat run down his skin as he darted to the walls. Being without his magic, something that was a part of him for so long, made him feel vulnerable, naked. He pulled the tapestry covering the stone wall away roughly, the thick fabric falling to the ground. Hidden behind it was a rune Magnus knew was used to bind magic. Similar runes were no doubt behind every tapestry in the room. Magnus wouldn't be able to cast magic without exiting the room and there was no way to do that with the locked trapdoor behind him.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the darkness disappeared, replaced by a bright, scorching heat. Magnus shut his eyes tight to shield them from the sudden light and brought his arms up to his face. He blinked until his eyes got used to the new light and looked around him.

The Divination classroom had disappeared, replaced on all sides by flames. They licked the walls that seemed to crumble under their heat, stained black by soot. The ceiling was in the same state, the now flat plaster cracking from the high temperature and falling to the ground. The flames seemed to be drawn to him, the fire forming shapes like wolves that pounced at him and tried to bite at his legs.

But worse of all, there, in front of the chest and the little table, under a broken bean and a large part of the ceiling, was his mother. It was like not a single day had passed since that night and he was back at his living room as it burned down around him. His mother was trying to get out from under the broken ceiling, but the plaster wouldn't budge no matter how much she struggled. There were tears in her eyes and down her cheeks, her face the definition of panic.

"Magnus!" She cried out. Magnus felt tears sting his eyes at the sound of his mother's voice, the fright, the helplessness in it. "Magnus! Help!"

Magnus was frozen on the spot. He'd seen this scene play out again and again in his nightmares after the fire - he still did sometimes - but to be back here, back at his burning house, to see his childhood go down in flames around him, realer than any dream, was almost too much. Something in him screamed at him to rush forward, to save his mother now that he had a second chance, but he held himself back, as horrible as it was.

This wasn't his mother. She wasn't here, in this burning room in Hogwarts. She was buried in a London cemetery with wild geraniums on her grave.

Still, despite knowing this wasn't real, it hurt. It hurt watching his mother die all over again in front of him. Tears welled up in his eyes and run down his face as the flames licked at her trapped body and she wailed in pain.

Then the fire flickered and suddenly his mother wasn't there anymore. Alex was in her place, the tears in her two-colored eyes shining in the light of the flames. Her hair smoked at the ends and soot covered her face. "Magnus!" She cried out, her voice breaking at the end as she started coughing hard from the smoke. She reached out for him desperately, the tears rolling down her face in fat drops that were burned away by the heat. "Where are you?"

Magnus darted forward to get to her, his arm already outstretched to pull her out from under the rumble. "Alex!" He called out, his voice sounding like it was ripped out from his throat.

He had only taken a step when Alex disappeared, consumed by the flames. Sam was in her place now, coughing frantically as smoke filled her lungs. Her hijab was charred by the fire, flames burning away the fabric whose color couldn't be made out anymore. She pushed her body up, trying to get the heavy bean and debris off of her. She was doing good but then she coughed again and slumped down on the floor, crying out from the weight that fell on her. "Help!"

Magnus's step faltered for only a second and then he was running to the other side of the room. With every step the person under the rumble changed, but the fear in their eyes and their cries for help didn't.

Sam was replaced by T.J, his dark skin glowing with sweat under the light of the flames, his face transformed by fear.

"Magnus!"

Then Halfborn, his hair singed, coughing hard and struggling to pull himself out from under the debris and failing.

"Please!"

Mallory took his place, her face burned red at the side, tears in her eyes as she fought to get out.

"Help!"

Annabeth, her strong arms covered with burns and blistering skin as she struggled to free herself but couldn't seem to get her legs from under the debris.

"Magnus!"

Blitzen and Hearthstone, trapped together under the broken bean and ceiling, crying for help with tears in their eyes and soot on their faces.

"Magnus!"

All the other kids from Perthro, boys and girls and everything in between, all of Magnus's new family, trapped and crying and begging for him to help them.

"Help!"

With each step the cries grew louder, the flames rose higher and hotter. Magnus's eyes were blurry with tears and he seemed to be moving slower, as if time had froze and he'd have to stay here, watching his friends, his family, the person he loves burn to death because he couldn't help them.

They switched again, Alex, Blitzen and Hearthstone, Annabeth, Mallory, Sam, the kids from Perthro, Halfborn, T.J, Alex, Annabeth… They screamed and cried, wailed as they fought to get out and called for help, their frightened broken voices clawing at his ears, making the tears come out harder.

"Magnus!"

"Help!"

"Please!"

He fell on his knees in front of now Mallory and tried to push the beam off her as she turned into Sam. Yet as much strength as he put into it he couldn't make the burnt wood budge. Sam was grasping his shirt his soot-covered hands, crying with broken sobs.

"N-No! L-leave, Magnus!"

Alex took her sister's place, taking his face into his hands and looking into his eyes with frightened, tear-filled eyes.

"Leave me behind! Go!"

Then his friends from Perthro were under the rumble, Sarah and Helen, little Cheyenne and Tommy.

"N-n-no! P-please don't leave! Help!" Cheyenne cried, her body shaking like a leaf by her sobs.

The people changed, teary eyes and frightened screams, they clawed at his clothes begging for help. Magnus was crying so hard he almost couldn't see them anymore because of the tears in his eyes. His heart was beating like a drum and his breathing was fast and shallow. He felt his hands shake and the air seemed to catch in his throat, stopping him from breathing properly.

 _You can't, save them, they'll die. They'll die and it's your fault. You couldn't help them and they'll die like you feared._

Magnus's body was shaking now, the sobs reaped out from his throat. Mallory was reaching out to him with her burnt hands and Magnus wanted to lie down and let the flames eat him along with the whole room but something about that last thought shook him like cold water in the face.

Feared. " _Fears cannot be easily tamed,"_ the parchment said. This guarding was supposed to show him "things you won't want to see" and there was a chest on the wall next to the glass box.

 _A boggart,_ he realized with a start. _The final guardian is a boggart. You need to get through your worse fears to get the last ingredient._

The realization helped ground him and his shaking stop. He knew how to take on a boggart and that knowledge helped, even if he wouldn't be able to cast the spell with the magic-binding runes on the walls.

Slowly, with trembling legs, he stood up. T.J's fingers were tugging at his leg desperately, but he moved on. He stepped towards the glass bow, tried to shut out the shrill voices of his friends under the debris.

"Magnus! No! P-Please!"

He wasn't able to figure out who was screaming anymore. All the voices had blended together into an ear-splitting cacophony. His fingers touched the glass lid and opened it as the nightmarish chorus shrieked, "Your fault your fault you let us die your fault."

Magnus took the small wooden box and the key that lay behind it and turned for the door. The boggart's appearance was changing so rapidly now that he couldn't make out each person, only characteristics – the grey eyes he shared with Annabeth, Mallory's red mane, T.J's dark skin, Sam's shinning eyes and Alex's green hair. The shrill screaming kept coming out of the creature's mouth was yelling accusations at him – _your fault your fault you left us your fault –_ and the tears didn't stop pouring from his eyes.

Still, he kept going, reminding himself with each painful step that these weren't his friends, his family, his Alex. They weren't dying, they weren't in danger. And even if they ever were, if they ever got in danger, he wouldn't let them get hurt.

He pushed the key into the keyhole and unlocked the trapdoor, falling through onto a heap on the floor. The trapdoor closed behind him, keeping the boggart inside.

Magnus lay there on the floor for a second, panting heavily. Then he pushed himself up despite how much he wanted to stay on the floor, wiped the tears out of his eyes and run to the Hall of the Slain.

"And Magnus Chase has taken the last ingredient! He's making his way back to the dining Hall!"

Magnus tripped as he was climbing down the stairs, half-paying attention to Professor Thor's words. He picked himself up and kept running down the necks at breakneck speed. He jumped over the last three steps and sprinted down the halls to the Hall of the Slain, pushing his body as much as he could and then some.

"The Hogwarts Champion is almost there!" Magnus heard Professor Thor say as he run. "Raphael Beaumont is close behind him and Helga Leifsson…" Thor's voice faltered there and when she spoke again his voice sounded more distant, like he had turned away from the mike and was talking to someone else. "Are you sure she's fine? She doesn't look too good."

Magnus finally reached the doors of the dining hall, which were thankfully open because he would have probably run straight into them at his speed. He rushed to his table and emptied the contents of the bag on it, scrambling to find the parchment with the instructions for the potion.

"Magnus Chase has set to work! He has thirty minutes to make the antidote!"

The room around him was a mess of screams and cheers but they were white noise to him as he put his cauldron on the fire and started heating water. He was cutting up the weird glass he got from the Hippogriff when Raphael came running into the room and started making his own antidote.

Magnus was moving his spoon in circles inside the murky contents of the cauldrons, hating the five minutes he had to repeat the action according to the recipe. His eyes were trained on Alex's body the whole time, the shallow rice and fall of her chest. Once he was done stirring he dumped inside the ingredients from the wooden box, a fine ashen dust.

Twenty minutes remained in the clock when Helga arrived looking like a complete mess. Tear tracks run down her cheeks, her whole face was red from crying and her hair looked like she had been pulling at it. Blood had seeped through her sleeve and she must have cast a spell to stop the bleeding. Thor made an announcement about her arrival but Magnus wasn't paying attention to him, only to the liquid that bubbled inside his cauldron, changing from brown to a deep green. The recipe said it had a sky blue color when it was ready.

Ten minutes to go and Magnus was measuring the amount of the purple liquid he had to add to the mix. His hands were shaking as he tracked each drop falling from the bottle.

Just then, a loud clanging sound sounded, startling Magnus and making everything he held in his hands fall to the ground. If he had looked up from the spilled liquid on the floor he would have seen that the source of the noise was Raphael pulling all the measuring cups out of their place under the table.

Gasping was heard from the stands. "Oh no, Magnus Chase just spilt one of his ingredients!"

Magnus was understandably freaking out. He was almost done with the antidote too. What was he supposed to do now? What would happen to Alex?

"H-here," he heard a voice saying. He looked up and was surprised to see Helga holding out her bottle of purple liquid to him. He hadn't recognized her voice at first, not with how broken it was. "I-I only n-need half of it."

Magnus couldn't believe what he was seeing but he took the bottle from her hand. "Why?' he asked.

Helga didn't answer, just stared at a spot in the stands and when Magnus followed her gaze he found her parents looking at them with angry eyes.

Magnus measured the liquid he would need and gave the bottle back to Helga with enough inside to use for her own antidote. He stirred the antidote in his cauldron and raised the temperature in the fire. The liquid's color was changing from green to blue and Magnus felt his pulse pick up and a smile break out on his face the closest he got to completing the potion.

Once the liquid had a light blue color her scooped it up and put it in a small bowl. His eyes were stuck to it as he walked as fast as he could to Alex. Every time it sloshed inside the bowl and got too close to the lid his heart dropped but he managed to reach his girlfriend's unconscious body without dropping it.

He cradled Alex's head in his hands and touched the bowl gently to her lips, opening her mouth to make her drink it. He was thankful for his Healing classes showing him how to do this. The blue liquid trickled past her lips and into her mouth, a drop trailing past her chin.

Once the contents of the bowl were drained, he waited. With every passing second he felt his fears grow – what if he had made a mistake, what if it didn't work, what if it was too late and she never woke up?

Then Alex's eyes opened and she shot upwards. She started coughing violently, like she was trying to force a rock out of her throat. Magnus let out the breath he had been holding and broke out into a wild smile, tears welling up in his eyes, happy tears. He couldn't help the joyful little laugh that left his mouth as he surged forward and hugged Alex close to his chest.

Alex had stopped coughing and she wrapped her arms around Magnus, looking at confusion at the laughing and weeping boy in her arms. The world around her came into focus and she looked up to see the students of the three schools looking down at her and Magnus. To her right, Raphael was pressing a bowl to Louis's lips, who was lying on a table. Helga, face red and tears in her eyes, was rushing to finish a potion of some sort while Agatha lay on a table in front of her. Magnus was still holding her like he thought he'd never see her again and his tears were seeping into her shirt.

"Um, not that I'm complaining for the hug, but what's going on?"

Magnus looked up at her, a smile brighter than the sun on his face and tears in his eyes. Alex cupped his cheek, wanting to kiss the tears from his face. Magnus leaned into her touch and the love she saw in his eyes left her breathless.

"Remember the treasure I was supposed to save for the second task?" He asked softly. Alex nodded.

"Well, I saved it." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her gently and softly, like he wanted to take his time and do this for the rest of the day. Alex relished in the feeling of his lips and put her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and drowning in him.

They pulled apart, but just barely, staying close enough that it was like the rest of the dining hall didn't exist and they were the only ones there.

"You're a sap," she told him quietly, affectionately, making it clear that she loved that about him even if she teased him.

"But I'm your sap," Magnus replied with a smile. Alex wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and pulled him in for another kiss as the crowd clapped around them.

* * *

 **Goodness, that was huge.**

 **In case you're curious, I got the first two riddles from my dad and the last from my grandpa's crossword magazine. You can thank my sister for the name Alfred for the Sphinx (I asked her what I should name the Sphinx and she told me to name him after Batman's butler) (I hope I remembered the name correctly). The top hat and bowtie are also thanks to her because I wasn't sure if I should include that but she said I should.**

 **If you're wondering, Helga got injured when she insulted the Hippogriff.**

 **Mon** cher **,** s'il **te plait, reveille** toi **! – My dear, please, wake up!**

 ** _Fan, sn_ _ä_ _lla vakna, jag ber dig, vakna -_ _basically "Shit, please wake up, I beg you, wake up"_**

 **Until next time, see ya!**


	22. Dramaaaa!

**Hello, folks! I have an important announcement to make! My sister (remember her?) read this story because she was bored and liked it so she wanted to make some fanart! She has only finished one of the pieces as of now, but once she finishes all of them I'll post them on my tumblr and post the links here, as well as go back and add them in the story. Tbh, I'm announcing this now so she won't lazy out on me ;)**

 **Anyway, enjoy some angst and fluff!**

* * *

"And the Second Task is over, ladies and gentlemen! Magnus Chase is the victor of this task, with Raphael Beaumont in second place and Helga Leifsson in third!"

The Hall of the Slain was filled with clapping and cheering. Magnus had only stopped kissing Alex when Thor had made a comment about "young love" but he was still hugging her. He helped her get off the table despite her protests – he was afraid that she would feel dizzy or unsteady on her feet because of the poison and he didn't want her to fall down and get hurt. She wasn't happy about being treated so softly – "I'm not made from glass, Magnus, I can stand up without help" – but Magnus was prepared to put up with her complaining if it meant she would be ok. She swayed a bit when she stood up and she would have stumbled and fallen down if it wasn't for Magnus's arm under her armpit and around her back. He raised an eyebrow at her, smile tugging at his lips and she elbowed him in the ribs. He laughed and pecked her on the cheek.

Louis had woken up by now and he was sitting up on his table, Raphael next to him. The Beauxbatons Champion was hugging him close and Magnus saw his lips moving as he whispered things to him in French. Louis was hugging him back with a content smile on his lips, whispering back to his boyfriend and running his fingers through his curls to soothe him. When Raphael finally pulled himself away from Louis it was to pepper kisses all over the blonde's face. There were tears in his eyes and it was clear to anyone watching that he was beyond happy that Louis was alright.

Agatha was awake too. She was the last to be given the antidote, just bare minutes before the time limit, but she was awake and well. The moment she woke up and sat up on the table, looking like nothing had happened and she had never been poisoned, Helga had collapsed in her arms and started sobbing. The blonde girl had been surprised, of course, but she quickly hugged her best friend back and started tracing circles on her back to cal her down. It only seemed to make her cry harder.

As the three Champions were reuniting with their loved ones, the audience was let out of the stands. Most didn't bother going near the Champions to congratulate them; it was clear they had eyes for no one else but their 'treasure' right now. The ones who did were each Champion's closest friends.

The whole group – Sam, Amir, T.J, Mallory and Halfborn – went straight to Magnus and Alex. The smiles on their faces were wide and the enveloped Magnus and Alex in a hug the moment they were close to them. Sam, like the mum friend she was, hugged them like they had just come back from saving the world. T.J, Mallory and Amir were hugging them as well and they were all held inside Halfborn's big arms. All in all, Magnus and Alex felt like they were being killed by hugs.

"You did it!" Mallory said, maybe a bit too loudly in his ears. There were congratulations coming from every side and he wasn't able to figure out who said what, but he didn't care. After everything he went through in the Second Task, especially the boggart, he really needed the hugs.

When they finally let go – and it took a few good minutes for that – Magnus could see in the worry in their eyes and he realized it must be because of what they saw happen in the Divination classroom. Still, they didn't bring it up and Magnus was glad about that.

Before he was able to say anything, Professor Blitzen came up from behind him and hugged him along with Professor Hearthstone. It took Magnus by surprise and his hand slipped from inside Alex's. He was frozen inside his guardians' embrace, rendered speechless by the sheer parental love that seemed to be oozing from them. Their hug was steady, strong, as if it was telling him "We're here."

When they finally pulled away they smiled at him. "We're proud of you, buddy," Blitzen said and Hearthstone nodded next to him.

 _If you ever need to talk about anything,_ Hearth signed, _come to us. You know we love you._

"I will. Thank you," Magnus replied, signing the words as he spoke.

Blitzen and Hearthstone smiled again at him before walking away to Professor Sif, who was calling them. Magnus was holding Alex's hand again and he was about to say they should go see how Raphael and Louis are doing when a loud yell made everybody in the hall freeze.

"No!" A girl's voice yelled, deafening and furious. Magnus glanced at Alex for a moment before he run through the crowd that let him pass easily.

Helga was standing there, in the middle of the ring the students had formed, her parents opposite her. There was fear but also a strange confidence in Helga's gaze and the way she held her hand up made Magnus think that she had just yanked it away from them. She stood in front of Agatha protectively, like she wanted to shield the shorter girl from her parents' gaze. "I'm not coming with you!"

Her parents obviously weren't happy with that little show of defiance. Both their faces were red, shock and anger twisting their features. It probably wouldn't take long for smoke to start coming out of Helga's father's ears and make his bad wig fly off his head.

" _Nu, lystna h_ _ä_ _rtill unga dam-"_ Helga's father was saying something in Swedish and while Magnus didn't have a clue what he was saying, it didn't sound too good. He found himself feeling bad for Helga – it was clear from what he had heard between her and her family when he was hiding behind the tapestry that their relationship was bad at best.

"No!" Helga interrupted her father again. The sound of English coming out of her mouth seemed to make him angrier. He said something again in Swedish, probably to stop talking in English, but Helga was having none of it. "No, if you have something to say, then say it in English! A Leifsson doesn't have something to hide, right?" Magnus would have to be stupid not to catch the bitter sarcasm in her voice at the end.

"Fine, if that's how you want to do it," Her father scoffed, his voice sharp and cold, his eyes even colder. Magnus couldn't understand how he could glare at his own daughter like that, with such anger and disappointment. "I wanted to spare you the humiliation of having this talk in public, but it seems like you don't care if your reputation suffers because of this. But then again," he laughed, and Magnus hated the sound of it – bitter and harsh, as if he was laughing at someone so much below him, "you and your brother have already marred the Leifsson name, so what was I expecting?"

Helga's eyes narrowed even further and her fists clenched at her sides. Her face was red with fury. "Don't you _dare_ talk about Ron like that!" she growled at her father, taking a step forward. She was glaring at them with such intensity it was a wonder they hadn't dropped dead already. Helga's mother took a step back and her father, despite trying to hide it, was obviously shaken by her words. Magnus's couldn't blame them – right now, Helga was terrifying.

"Oh, please, that boy was trouble from the very begging!" Her father yelled back. Shaken or not, it seemed like he wasn't going to let his daughter get the best of him. "No wonder he turned out the way he did!"

"Turned out _what_ way?" Helga demanded, taking one more step forward threatenigly. Her chest was heaving and her voice deafeningly loud. She was finally letting out everything she'd bottled up and she couldn't hold it back any longer. "Happy? Brave enough to be who he wanted despite the bullshit way you raised both of us?"

Helga's mother gasped. "Language, young lady!"

"Oh, _please_ ," Helga said as she rolled her eyes. The rage in her voice, in her eyes, in her whole body had made everyone in the room freeze. Agatha was still standing behind her, concern clear in her eyes, but also something else – a knowledge this had to happen. "What, are you afraid that your perfect little girl cursing will get you a bad reputation? That those stupid 'friends' of yours will talk about you behind your back? Newsflash, they already do!"

"We're your parents!" her mother shot back pathetically, her voice too high-pitched. "You can't talk about us like that!"

Helga froze for a second, mouth slightly ajar, like she couldn't believe her mother had actually used that card. Everything was still for a single moment and then Helga _erupted._ "I can when you always treated Ron and me as little more than robots!" she bellowed, stepping even closer to her parents, who were looking at their daughter speechless. "We were never your children, we were just the _heirs_ to your stupid fortune! Just another object to prove to the world and your judgmental rich friends that you had a successful life!"

There were tears running down her face now but they didn't stop her from saying everything she's waited so long to say. "Did you ever even care about us?" She stepped forward again. "Did you care that Ron had panic attacks because of how much you pressured him to have good grades? That he had to calm me down after I started crying every time you yelled at me for not being the perfect little princess you wanted me to be?" Her voice hitched at the end as she sobbed and she took another step. "That I had to force him to sleep or eat when he was studying because he would rather starve than face your wrath for disappointing you? That I was always 'the Leifsson girl' to everyone and not just myself?" Another step. "That the only reason why I managed to deal living with you after you made him leave was because Agatha and her family was there to do what you never did? That Ron was too paranoid to hold Henry's hand because he was afraid you would somehow find out and kick him out and then I'd have to deal with you alone?"

Helga was crying hard now and her hand was buried into her hair, pulling at the strands as she laughed brokenly. "And- and that when you finally found out he was gay and you threw him out, he was happier away from you?" She pointed an accusatory finger and her parents and moved even closer to them. They didn't move. "That he has a great career and a boyfriend that loves him that he wants to propose to even though you told him he would never amount to anything when you kicked him out? Did you care? No you didn't, you fucking _didn't_!" Her voice rose at the end and Magnus saw that her parents flinched away.

"So I don't know why I cared!" She kept yelling, somehow getting the words out despite all her tears. "I don't know why I cared so much about your opinion!" Another step. "Do you know how many things I did just so you would be proud of me? But did you ever say 'good job'?" One more step. "Did you ever just pat me on the back for trying? With you it was always awards and being the best! In school," _step,_ "in sports," _step,_ "in looks," _step_ , "in behavior," _step_ , "always the best according to what you thought of as best, even if your best meant I couldn't be who I wanted to do what I wanted."

"Helga…" It wasn't her father who spoke, or her mother. They weren't apologizing for all the accusations Helga was hurling at them. No, the one who spoke was Agatha, a tentative hand on Helga's shoulder. It seemed to calm her down because she wasn't crying anymore and when she spoke her voice was even.

"You saw what happened with the boggart." She spoke calmly, no longer screaming, but there was a passion in her voice. She was standing a step away from her parents, her back held straight and her eyes blazing with the bravery she needed to be facing two

The screens up on the walls were showing what had happened when Helga was facing the third guardian – she was trembling on her knees in front of an older version of herself that looked and acted just like her parents. On-screen Helga was watched in horror as her older self talked horribly to Agatha and made her cry. "I won't be like that. I won't be like you."

"Fine," her father said, his voice steely cold. "You won't be like us then. You won't have our name either, not unless you apologize for how you just spoke to your parents. I'm giving you one last chance, young lady"

A loud collective gasp went through the crowd of students, but Helga didn't seem surprised. She just looked at her parents with an icy confidence. "I know I have to apologize to people. You're not part of them."

"Very well." Her parents said nothing else. They turned around and left the Hall of the Slain without spare a single look for their daughter. Helga watched them go until the door slammed shut behind them.

The murmuring in the crowd got even louder when Helga's parents left. Magnus felt awkward, like he wanted to do something but didn't know what or how. A glance at Alex told him she felt the same way.

Helga and Agatha still stood in the middle of the circle of students that were slowly dispersing. Agatha's face was the dictionary definition of worry but her movements when she took Helga's hand weren't slow or hesitant but sure. _I'm here,_ she seemed to say. She knew Helga needed this and didn't give her actions a second though.

Helga didn't hesitate either; she wrapped her arms around Agatha's back and hid her face in the crook of her neck. She started trembling as Agatha petted her hair and muffled crying laughter came out of her lips.

" _Are you alright?"_ she asked in Swedish and while Magnus couldn't understand the words he could understand the affection in her voice.

" _I'm not,_ " Helga replied. " _But I will be. I had to do that."_

" _I know,_ " Agatha said back softly. She tucked a strand of Helga's hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. " _I'm proud of you._ "

A few seconds passed as they stood there. The moment felt awfully intimate and Magnus had to look away.

" _There's something else I have to do,_ " Helga said quietly before pulling herself out of Agatha's arms. Much to Magnus's surprise, she turned to them and started walking towards them. Her eyes might have still been red from tears but she had back the same confidence as always. This was the first time Magnus noticed how frail that confidence was.

Helga finally stood a few steps from Alex, looking her straight in the eye. Magnus's friends and Agatha all looked at the two girls with curiosity, but Agatha seemed to realize what was happening because she smiled approvingly.

Despite everything that had just happened there was still hostility in Alex's eyes; just because she could relate with Helga for shit parents didn't mean she would forget what she did or forgive her for it so easily.

"I'm sorry," Helga said simply. Alex just looked at her; that wasn't enough. Helga took a deep breath and kept going. "I'm sorry," she said again. "I know that's not enough and I don't expect it to be enough. I was a bitch." The corners of Alex's lips lifted up in the barest smiled and she nodded. "I was too much of a coward to act different than my parents. I don't expect you to forgive me; to be honest, I wouldn't forgive me if I were in your place. But I needed to say this."

There was silence for a moment as Alex and Helga simply looked at each other. Magnus had to admit he admired Helga a bit for facing her fuck-ups head on like this, but he wasn't sure he had forgiven her completely just yet.

"I won't forgive you," Alex finally said. "Not yet. Maybe someday, but not now. Maggie would probably forgive you more quickly but I'm not that good a person."

Magnus let out a sound of protest at the nickname but Helga smiled. She had been expecting that. "Then I guess I should become a person worth forgiving by then, huh?"

Alex nodded. "Yep. Good luck."

"Sooo," Agatha said in a sing-song tone to cheer up Helga and break the tension in the air. "Since your parents aren't in the picture anymore, does that mean I can hold your hand now?"

Helga chuckled a bit, tension successfully broken, and took Agatha's hand. "Yeah, I guess." She smiled at the other girl and Agatha smiled back.

"Excuse moi," Raphael said suddenly. He was standing amongst Magnus's friends, his left hand clasping Louis's right tightly. "I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but are you two together?"

Helga and Agatha immediately flushed red.

"Yes?" Agatha asked with a smile, squeezing Helga's hand a bit.

Helga smiled back and nodded. "Yes." She liked the word on her tongue. She hadn't thought she'd ever be able to call Agatha her girlfriend without feeling scared.

Magnus could help smiling a bit at the cute scene in front of him before he realized something. "Okay, wait, so if you're gay," he pointed at Raphael, "and you're…" he trailed off, pointing at Helga.

"Lesbian," she said smiling. Saying it loudly felt nice.

Magnus nodded. "Okay, so if Raphael is gay and you're gay and I'm pan that means that none of this year's Champions are straight."

"Huh, you're right. I hadn't thought of that," Raphael said with a chuckle. "Anyway, Louis and I should be going. After that whole thing I desperately need a nap." Raphael and Louis left the Hall of the Slain together, hands intertwined between them. They probably wouldn't let go of each other for quite some time.

"We should go to the infirmary to get your arm checked," Agatha said to Helga, eyeing her arm with worry. Whatever spell Helga cast on her arm might have stopped the bleeding but a hippogriff's talons left deep wounds and it was bad enough it was left like that for that long.

Helga agreed with her new girlfriend and the two of them had started to leave when Helga turned around. "Goodbye," she told Alex. Her whole posture seemed awkward but her voice was polite. A week ago she wouldn't have even bothered to say the word to Alex, let alone be polite about it. It was a clumsy attempt, but it was a start for change. As the two girls left the dining hall, Magnus saw Agatha smiling and Helga.

"Should we be going too?" Alex asked, tugging at his hand a bit. "I want to hear what happened in the second task. I can't believe I was asleep during the whole thing. I wanted to see you kick ass."

Magnus chuckled at the pout on his girlfriend's face and felt so grateful she was here next to him and no longer on the cold table. "Alright. It's not an epic story though."

"Nah, I'm sure it's epic," Alex said. "At the very least you got your ass epically handed to you, right?"

"Ha ha. Very funny." Magnus tried to frown as he talked but the effect was ruined by how happy he was that Alex was well enough to be teasing him like always. Alex chuckled at him and kissed him on the cheek. Magnus _may_ have been smiling like an idiot.

"Ugh, Mallory, they're being lovey-dovey again," Halfborn groaned in protest, making the others snort at him.

"Oh, shut up. You wanted them to get together just as much as the rest of us," Mallory said.

"Yeah, but I didn't know they'd be this grossly in love!"

"Oh, that's nothing," Alex cut in before Mallory had the chance to say something to her boyfriend. " _This_ is grossly in love."

Much to Halfborn's disdain, Alex leaned in and covered Magnus's lips with her own, a smirk on her lips. The kiss in itself was sweet and simple and Magnus loved it. They moved their lips together for a bit, their movements perfectly synchronized from so much practice. Alex's palms were cupping his cheeks, her thumbs running circles on his cheekbones, and Magnus's hands rested just above her hips. Magnus smiled against her lips and kissed her more.

When they pulled away for air Magnus heard Halfborn sigh relieved. "Oh, thank Merlin, they stopped." But they had only stopped for a second before their lips were joined again. "Oh, come on!"

Magnus didn't care for Halfborn's protests, not when Alex was kissing him like this, her lips so soft and warm. He trailed his arms up her sides until they were wrapped around her neck and he pulled her closer. He leaned his head to deepen the kiss and Alex reacted enthusiastically, pressing her lips against his harder. She ran her tongue against his lower lip and he opened his mouth happily. His whole body felt as hot as a light bulb and he would be surprised if his whole body was glowing.

They pulled apart with a content sigh leaving Magnus's lips. Were they to look at anything else but each other they would have seen that Sam and Amir were looking the other way to give them privacy, T.J was filming the whole thing so he could play it at their wedding and Mallory was laughing at the suffering on Halfborn's face. As it were, they were about to lean in to kiss again when Halfborn interrupted them with a loud, "Get a room, goddamn it!"

"Fine!" Alex said back just as loud. "We will!" She took Magnus's hand again and they left the Hall of the Slain together.

"Two galleons Magnus will be limping tomorrow!" Magnus heard T.J say as they left the room. His face flushed at the implication. _Damn teenage hormones._

"You know they'll be teasing us for this for the next week at the least, right?" he asked Alex as they walked down the halls.

"Yeah, but you have to admit that was a great exit."

Magnus snorted. "True. So, what do you want to do now?"

"Mm… How about you go get us some food from the kitchens and we go hang out at the Room of Requirement while you tell me what happened in the second task?"

"Will there be kissing?" Magnus asked with a grin. After everything that happened today he wanted to lie down and kiss Alex until dinner.

"Hmm…" Alex tapped her chin with her free hand as she made a show of thinking over his offer, even though they both knew she liked kissing just as much as he did. "Alright," she said finally. "But I want one of those pink and green cupcakes."

Magnus kissed her cheek before letting go of her hand and doing a deep, exaggerated bow. "Your wish is my command, milady."

Alex giggled at him and Magnus though that his smile was wide enough to split his face in two. "Did you just call me 'milady'?"

"And what if I did?"

Alex laughed at the mischievous twinkle in Magnus's eyes and Magnus felt his heart flutter at the sound of her laughter like every time. "You're a dork."

"Ah," he said with a cheeky smile, wiggling a finger in her face, "but I'm a dork that's getting a cupcake and cookies."

Alex kissed him in the cheek with a snort. "Yeah, that's the only reason I'm keeping you around."

Magnus feigned a surprised gasp. "I knew you were only using me!"

"That's right," Alex said with her best cartoon villain imitation, hands held out at either side of her like she was holding two very large oranges. "I was only using you for your sweets and your body!"

Magnus's laughed at Alex's antics, feeling the warm feeling of happiness spread through his entire body. He leaned in and kissed Alex on the lips, trying to make her understand all the joy he felt at having her by his side safe and sound through a single kiss. He wasn't sure if she understood, maybe she did, but if she didn't then he'd just have to kiss her until she did

"I love you," he said when he pulled away. It took a few moments before his stupidly in love brain realized what he had just said and his face went red. Alex was looking at him with dish-wide eyes and an open mouth, surprise evident on her face. Magnus was about to open his mouth to apologize for springing that on her but he didn't get the chance. Alex practically pounced on him and kissed him with everything she had. Magnus was so surprised that he stumbled backwards and he would have fallen down if it wasn't for the wall behind him. As it was, Alex had him pined to the wall, her hands holding his face as she kissed him hard enough to forget his own name.

When she pulled apart her face was beautifully flushed, a bright smile on her lips and her two-colored eyes shining. Magnus was panting and his intelligent respond was a breathless, "Woah."

Alex laughed, the sound music to Magnus's ears, and she leaned in to kiss him again, this time gentler, softer. Magnus closed his eyes and got lost in the kiss, burying his finger in her soft hair.

When Alex pulled away she beamed at him like she was living a dream she never thought would come true. "I love you too, Maggie."

"You had to ruin the moment, didn't you?" Magnus frowned at her but not all the frowns in the word could hide how happy he felt right now.

"Aw, come on, don't be like that," Alex said as she nuzzled her nose against Magnus's. "You wuv me."

Magnus leaned in to press his lips to Alex's. "That I do. Can't understand why, though."

Alex laughed again and Magnus laughed with her. There, against a Hogwarts wall, his forehead pressed against Alex's, simply breathing in each other's sent, Magnus felt happy.

* * *

 **I honestly think my blood sugar rose just by writing that last bit.**

 **My sister wants me to kill Helga's parents, btw. Tell me if you agree.**

 **Nu,** lystna **härtill** unga **dam – Now, listen here young lady**


	23. Who else hates exams?

**Here's a new chapter! Tbh, I'm not sure what to think about this chapter, it's honestly a filler chapter.**

 **However, I have something to show you! The first piece of fanart my sister made is now posted on tumblr! I thought I'd post the link now since she might still lazy out on me.**

* * *

The rest few months until the Third Task went by quietly. And 'quietly' meant that Magnus didn't fight against deadly beasts or finally get together with the girl-sometimes-boy of his dreams. What had every fifth and seventh year student in over their heads was something much different and much worse.

 _Exams_.

The N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s were moved to an earlier time in the year since they normally would have happened at the week of the Third Task. Their new date had the students that would be sitting them in a frenzy; seventh year students in particular were rarely seen without a text book in their hands or notes in their pockets. Many of them sported black circles under their eyes and the corridor leading to the kitchens smelt perpetually of coffee.

Magnus and his friends weren't any better off. The earlier date of the exams meant that the weeks before the exams that were devoted in reviewing the material of each class were significantly cut down and most of their time now was spent cramming as much knowledge into their heads as possible. Bless Magnus and his house elves connections because they would have died of exhaustion long ago if he hadn't been providing them with coffee and chocolate.

T.J was aiming for either Auror training or a position in the Ministry of Justice. He hadn't been able to choose one, even though he had been thinking about it ever since his O.W.L.s, so he had decided to apply to both and see what happened later. A fine strategy, if only for the fact it meant he needed the N.E.W.T.s both jobs required. He might be good at studying, but it was getting a bit much even for a Ravenclaw.

Mallory was quite honestly lost about what she wanted to do after school ended. She decided to apply for Auror for no other reason other than that it seemed cool and she wouldn't mind beating up people for a job. She didn't have any problems with DADA but Potions were _killing_ her. Last Wednesday she fell asleep on top of her Potions textbook. She had the instruction for a poison printed on her cheek when she woke up. Her other alternative was applying for an internship in _Blitzen's Best._

Sam, after some coaxing and support from her friends, had decided to risk it and try out for Quidditch teams. She had been approached by some scouts on occasion who told her that if she wanted to pursue it he should try out for their teams. She was nervous she wouldn't succeed as a professional but her friends, especially Alex, had quickly called bullshit on that. She was studying hard for her N.E.W.T.s nevertheless because she was Sam and it was a matter of pride.

Alex wanted to get into art school so most of her time was spent going through her art to decide which she should put in her portfolio and studying so she wouldn't flunk her N.E.W.T.s. She had paint and clay on her nails all the time and Magnus would laugh every time she had come to breakfast with paint on her face from painting late at night.

Magnus was slaving over Potions and Healing textbooks. He wanted to become a Healer after Hogwarts finished and while he was good at healing he was nervous he wouldn't go as well as he needed to at the other lessons.

Long story short, they were all missing sleep and suffering in the Hogwarts library. Halfborn would laugh at them in all the letters he sent them, most of them boiling down to "Ha ha, now it's your time to suffer, I already went through this hell."

The students of the other two schools had it just as bad with their respective exams and all of them bonded over a simple truth of life: exams suck.

And then, finally, the day of reckoning had arrived. Fifth and seventh year students of all schools were crowded outside the larger rooms of the castle, dreading the moment the large doors would open once the previous exam was over and they'd have to go inside or waiting anxiously for a friend who was already inside every student's hell on earth.

Alex was in the latter group. This particular classroom was one of the smallest exam rooms and the N.E.W.T.s of subjects less people took were held there. He had just come out of his Muggle Studies exam – a subject Magnus had chosen not to sit – and he was waiting for Magnus to finish his Healing exam. He knew Magnus would do well, heck, if there was a higher mark than "Outstanding" he would take it; he was talented at healing, probably the best in the class, even though the idiot wouldn't admit it. He couldn't help worrying a little bit, though – mostly about whether his boyfriend would write well without making stupid mistakes because he was going through the test too fast.

Finally, the door opened and the head of every student outside it turned to its direction. The Healing students came out, looking anywhere from tired to 'I want to crawl inside a hole and die'. Alex caught sight of Magnus's blonde head near the back of the group and he stepped to the side so he could ambush his boyfriend more efficiently.

"Maggie!" he yelled a bit too loudly, throwing his arms around his boyfriend and hugging him from behind. Magnus was just a couple centimeters shorter than him, which meant he was perfect for hugging (and stealing clothes from). "How did the exam go?"

"Pretty well. I might have made a mistake at the one exercise, but I think I did well," he said, sounding fairly confident about himself and Alex kissed his cheek. At the start of their relationship Alex hugging him out of nowhere like he had now would have sent him toppling over and kissing his cheek in front of people would have made him flush and splutter. Now he hardly stumbled and okay, he blushed, but he didn't splutter.

"I told you you'd do great. Do you want that congratulatory kiss now?" Before Magnus sat his Potions N.E.W.T – which Alex also took – he joked about getting a kiss for good luck. Alex, who was doing some last-minute cramming, told him he'd get a kiss as long as neither of them died during the exam. It had become a sort of joke between them and now they always asked the other for a kiss after they came out of an exam.

"I do, but maybe we should go somewhere else and not start making out in front of the exam room."

Alex nodded begrudgingly and stopped hugging them to lace their finger together. They had been scolded a couple of times from teachers for their PDA, and while they hadn't got in trouble for it, the general rule was that anything beyond a kiss on the cheek was only for more secluded places.

They made their way to the library hand in hand while Magnus told Alex about his exam, even though Alex only knew the basics when it came to healing. Still, he listened and made sarcastic comments here and then, making Magnus snort and laugh.

"And then there was this really basic question, like 'What do you do if someone is unconscious and you don't know why-'"

"You slap them till they wake up so you can ask them!" Alex had cut in at one point and Magnus had laughed so loud at the enthusiasm in his eyes and voice that he snorted. The sound had made Alex laugh too and the portraits on the walls had been looking at them with anything from 'Aw, young love' to 'Stupid children'.

"You know, if you keep calling me Maggie, I need to find a nickname for you too," Magnus said with a grin after they had stopped laughing like idiots. "What about Ferraris?"

"What?" Alex snorted. Magnus calling him Ferraris made him imagine himself as a car from that Pixar movie and wow, was that a weird mental image.

"What about Figaro?" Magnus went on. He wouldn't stop until he found a nickname that annoyed Alex just as much as 'Maggie' annoyed him.

Alex chuckled. "No."

"Ferrero Roche?"

"What the-" Alex started and Magnus made a mental note to use that one, or at least get her some of those chocolates at one point. He'd probably get punched for it but it'd be worth it.

Turning down a corner, Magnus noticed a group of students huddled over the _Daily Prophet._ An crying Helga screamed to the world from the first page. The fight after the Second Task had quickly made it to the headlines – the heir to one of the richest wizarding families revealing such things about her home life was like a chest of treasure for reporters. Someone had recorded nearly the whole argument and it had been sod for quite a price to the highest bidding newspaper.

Helga's parents had been having a hell of a time trying to save their image but it was no use. Magnus had read some of the interviews they did in hopes of appearing good again but nothing they said could fix what had happened. On the other side, Helga was receiving letters from newspapers who wanted to interview her every day. She had been adamant that she had no wish to have an interview but the letters hadn't stopped coming until a furies Agatha sent Howlers to each and every newspaper.

Once at the library, Magnus noticed Louis and Raphael sitting at one of the tables in front of the windows. Raphael was bend over a book with his head in his hands, looking like he was about to either start crying or bang his head on the table in hopes it would get him to pass out. Louis looked much better on the other hand, a book and a notebook open in front of him and a pencil in his hand. A plate of half-eaten cookies lay between them and Louis swatted Raphael's hand away when the other tried to take one. They heard Louis say something in French as they walked closer and Alex translated for him.

"He said 'I told you, you can only have one after you're done with that chapter'."

Raphael was in the middle of protesting when Magnus and Alex reached them.

"Hey, Raphael," Magnus said in greeting. "Mind if we sit here?"

"Please sit," Raphael replied, still frowning because he got no cookie. "I need witness of the horrors he puts me through for court."

"Oh, stop being dramatic," Louis said exaggeratedly. "You know as well as I do that you have to study this."

Raphael was still pouting. "But doesn't mean I like it." Louis sighed and rolled his eyes.

"What are you studying?" Magnus asked curiously. He was pulling out his Healing book to check over the answers he gave in the exam while Alex was getting her sketchbook ad art supplies out of her bag.

"History of Magic," Raphael all but groaned as he let his head fall on the textbook's open pages.

Magnus flinched at the mention of that subject and Alex groaned. "I hate that subject."

"I hate the way it's taught," Raphael said as he raised his head up from his book. "It could be so interesting if done correctly but our teacher just drones on and on. How are we supposed not to fall asleep?" Raphael's voice rose higher and higher and the librarian shushed them angrily.

"Anyway," the French champion continued in a whisper, "now I have to learn all of this shit for tomorrow, even all the useless details not even our teacher remembers."

Magnus nodded solemnly; he had suffered horribly to learn what he needed to for the History of Magic exam.

The four of them went back to studying in companionable silence. Louis was taking notes from his text book, Raphael was groaning every five minutes, Alex was sketching something and Magnus the questions from the exam. At one point Alex leaned forward and took a cookie from the plate. When Louis didn't protest Raphael pouted at him and called him a traitor. Louis grinned but otherwise ignored his boyfriend; he just wanted an excuse to procrastinate.

The blonde's eyes instead fell on Alex's sketchbook. On the page was an almost finished sketch of Magnus smiling as he read his book, the light from the window making his eyes shine.

"That's really good," Louis said with a smirk. "You want to get into Art School?"

"Yeah." Alex turned the sketchbook away so Magnus wouldn't be able to see what it was he had been drawing. He's drawn him a lot without his boyfriend finding out and he's not going let Magnus find out and start teasing him about it. "I've done better than this, though. It's just a sketch."

Louis grinned even wider and Alex glared at him with burning cheeks. He made a gesture like he was zipping his lips shut and the blonde Frenchman nodded.

"What do you want to do?" Louis asked Magnus, taking the subject away from Alex's sketches of his boyfriend.

"I want to be a healer," Magnus answered simply. He didn't have a clue that Alex had been drawing him or that he had a sketchbook worth's of such drawings. "You?"

"I want to open a pastry shop," Louis said. His eyes were twinkling, like he could already picture everything about his future shop. "Wizards have so many unique sweets but they completely ignore Muggle ones. I want my shop to sell both as well as the ones I make on my own. I've been working on some ideas."

"If the cake you gave me is anything to go by your shop will be a hit," Magnus said with a smile. He was kind of bummed the shop didn't already exist because he would love to eat everything inside it.

"Oh, it's definitely going to be a hit," Raphael said, smiling proudly. He wrapped his arms around Louis's shoulders and nuzzled his face into the other boy's neck. "My boyfriend's awesome."

Louis blushed but he turned his to the side and kissed Raphael's head. "My boyfriend is more awesome."

"Are we that cheesy too?" Alex whispered to Magnus's ear. Magnus shrugged.

"What do you want to do, Raphael?" Alex asked, hoping it would stop the other couple from making out in front of them.

Raphael instantly perked up and he started explaining to Magnus and Alex what it was he wanted to do with the excitement of a small child. Louis watched him ramble with a fond smile on his face.

"I want to study magic in different countries," he started, his eyes glittering. "My grandparents' immigrated to France and they use some spells I've never even heard of. I want to study how magic differs from place to place." His face fell a bit and he sighed heavily. "But I need to get really good CR.E.P.E.s to make sure I'll be able to apply for the different courses around the world. That's why I'm dying over these textbooks."

Alex raised a brow in question. "Crepes?"

Louis snorted. "Yes. It's the equivalent of N.E.W.T.s in France." He sounded like he had memorized the words. They probably had to explain it to a lot of different people recently. "It stands for Cripplingly Exhausting Proficiency Exam."

Magnus and Alex laughed at the name. They probably didn't have the right to talk when wizarding exams at the UK were called W.O.M.B.A.T, O.W.L and N.E.W.T but it still seemed funny to them.

"Do you have an exam called croissant too?" Magnus asked, still chuckling a bit.

"Yeah," Raphael said, deadly serious. "Though I always forget what that stands for."

Leaving pastry named exams aside, the four of them went back to their business. Time passed by relatively easily, the silence of the library punctuated only by coughs and the pained groans of studying students. Once they decided that enough was enough and that Raphael would sustain lasting damage if he read one more page about the goblin rebellion they left the library together.

"Did you hear about what happened with the lawsuit?" Magnus asked at one point. After the second task, the parents of Louis and Agatha as well as several other angry parents had sued the schools for putting the three students in danger. The Headmasters were drowning in angry letters.

"I think they got away, but they'll have to pay compensation to the Champions and the people they poisoned," Raphael said. His shoulders were slumped and Magnus was pretty sure he would pass out if they didn't put some caffeine in him soon.

"How did they even get away with that?" Alex asked incredulously.

"I heard it's because the poison wouldn't have killed us but just give us bad fever," Louis said. He thought that was stupid and he didn't try to stop it from showing in his voice.

"That doesn't make it okay," Magnus huffed.

"The second task was fucked up in general," Alex grumbled. "I mean, what messed up psycho thought it be a good idea to force you to face the embodiment of your worse fears?"

Magnus squeezed Alex's hand. After he had explained to Alex what happened during the second task, especially what happened at the Divination classroom, and needless to say the Slytherin didn't like it. He spent the next ten minutes pacing up and down the Room of Requirement and shouting obscenities about whoever came up with that part of the task.

"Alex," he had said, trying to get her to calm down. Alex didn't pay attention to him.

"Who do they think they are? What if one of you had a panic attack or-"

"Alex!" He had spoken louder that time and it managed to get Alex to stop talking. "It's alright," he had continued, taking Alex's hand and making her sit down next to him on the couch. "I'm alright. Nothing happened to me. I'm fine."

"But you shouldn't have to go through that," Alex had protested. "You shouldn't have to relive your mother's death or see any of us die or…" Alex's voice had broken and she took a deep, shaky breath. "I remember how broken you were in fourth year when your mum died. You shouldn't have to go through that again. I don't want to see you like that again."

"Alex, I'm alright," he had pressed on but Alex wouldn't look at him. He had brought his hand up to her cheek and turned her face so she was facing him. "I'm alright," he had repeated. "I know my mum's dead and I can't do anything to change that. I know you and everybody else are alright and I can do something to keep it that way. It's alright."

Alex had sighed and she wrapped her arms around Magnus, holding him tight to her chest. Magnus's head had been buried the crook of her neck. She had started tracing circles on his back and Magnus had gotten lost in her warmth.

"You know we're here, right?" She had said quietly after a moment. "You won't lose us."

Magnus had tightened his arms around her waist and nuzzled closer to her neck. "I know," he had said. "Since when are you so affectionate?"

Alex had chuckled and the heavy tension between them had broken. "Since now," she had said with a laugh before leaning in and kissing him softly.

"Magnus? Magnus?" Alex's voice snapped him out of his memories and he turned to him.

"Are you alright? You spaced out for a bit," Alex went on.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking." Alex didn't seem to be buying it but he let the subject drop.

"Anyway, I agree with Alex about the second task," Louis said, continuing from where they had left off. "I mean, they didn't _know_ what your worse fear was, what if it made one of you faint or have a panic attack?" Louis's face had gone red and his voice had risen an octave near the end. The though alone obviously made him nervous and his hands were twitching by his sides. Raphael reached out and took Louis's hand in his own. The contact seemed to calm Louis down and he sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair.

"Sorry, Raph. It's just…" he sighed. "You get anxious enough about exams as it is; I don't want this to make it worse. I'm just worried."

Raphael smiled and leaned in to peck Louis on the cheek. "(I'm alright, mon cher,)" he said. He was trying to be reassuring but it didn't seem he was too sure about it himself.

"Was your worse fear exams?" Alex asked curiously. Magnus tugged at his hand and shot him a look. He shouldn't have asked about that; Raphael might not want to talk about it.

"It wasn't," Raphael said, seemingly unfazed by the question. Louis was looking at him concerned. "It was my grave," he went on. Magnus paled and from the look on Alex's face he regretted bringing it up. "I was dead and everyone at my funeral were talking about how there were so many things I hadn't done and would never be able to now."

There was a moment of tense silence and Magnus refused to look at Raphael in the eye. He didn't know how to react to something like that and it made him uncomfortable. If someone trusted you enough to tell you something like that you should say something, right?

"Shit," Alex said tensely, finally breaking the silence. "That must have sucked."

"Yeah," Raph chuckled at the uncomfortable way Alex spoke. "It was. I spent at least ten minutes trying to get my family to realize I was alright and that I wasn't dead. That was probably the worst part of it all;" Raphael went on, his thumb tracing circles on Louis hands as he looked at the other boy, "everyone I knew – my friends, my family, Louis – they were all crying over me. It was horrible to watch."

"I'm sorry I asked," Alex muttered.

Raphael snorted. "It's alright. Maybe I'll forget about it easier if I talk about it."

Louis squeezed Raphael's hand and smiled at him, an unsaid _I'm here_ passing between them. Magnus and Alex remained quiet and after a while changed the topic to something lighter to cheer Raphael up. Unfortunately for Magnus, this new topic happened to be embarrassing stories about him. He would have frowned at Alex for bringing up all those stories if Raphael wasn't laughing at them, everything that happened with the boggart forgotten for now.

They split up when they made it to the Hall of the Slain and went to have lunch with their others friends as they complained over exams. Magnus was tackled halfway to their table by little Cheyenne who came to hug him. She had made a habit of that since the Second task, probably as a way to remind him she was safe just like everybody else from Perthro. Like every day, he smiled at her and ruffled her hair as her little head was buried in his chest.

Cheyenne wasn't the only one who would try to make sure he was alright after everything that happened in the Divination classroom. T.J would be more touchy than he already was, Mallory would tease him more, Sam would somehow ask him how he was multiple times a day and even Halfborn would sent more letters than before. He appreciated a lot, but to be honest, as cheesy as it sounded, they didn't need to do any of those things. Eating together like always, laughing and teasing each other and complaining about school was more than enough to make him forget the boggart's vision.

/

The day of the final task was finally here, as was the summer heat. With exams done and the students having sent in their applications, the castle of Hogwarts and everyone inside it were preparing for the big finale of the Triwizard Tournament. The audience for this task was expected to be at least twice as big as it had been for the last two tasks combined and it probably would be even more than that. Every inn and every available room in Hogsmeade was booked by people who wanted to be at Hogwarts for the Third Task and the celebration afterwards.

Shops from Hogsmeade, like Valhalla and the Candy Store, would be selling their fare at the stands, street vendors were trying to make a few extra cash by selling flags, caps and t-shirts supporting the three schools and students were making banners to support their respective Champions. And of course, the betting was stronger than ever. With all three Champions at a draw, the Third Task would be the one to decide who would win – whoever won in the Third Task would win the Tournament. Everyone was excited about what would go down at the final task and the Champions were trying not to let their nerves get to them.

The day before the Third Task, Magnus was planning to relax in his dorm and then go to sleep so he wouldn't be tired the next day. Instead, his friends dragged him to the school grounds the moment dinner was over. With summer finally here, the days were longer and it wasn't too dark after dinner to go outside. In fact, a lot of students were wandering around, enjoying the evening before they would have to go back inside. Looking out to the Quidditch field, Magnus noticed that the stands were much bigger now, so big you'd thing they were hosting the World Cup. He wasn't able to think about that for long because Alex finally let go of the hand she was dragging him by and turned around to face him. They were at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"Okay, can someone finally tell me what's going on? Why did you drag me here?" He didn't get an answer, just his friends grinning at each other. Before he managed to ask again, a blonde head peaked out from behind the trees and before he could react Annabeth was hugging him close.

"Surprise!" his cousin said when she let go of him. Percy was standing behind her, he was probably hiding behind the trees too. "Did you forget we were going to come visit?"

He did. With everything that happened this year he had completely forgotten Annabeth and Percy had said they would come see the Third Task with them.

"Oops?"

Annabeth chuckled. "It's okay, I expected it. I can't believe you're Champion!"

"Yeah, I can't either."

"We were watching the Tournament with our friends from Ilvermorny," Percy said. "They were disappointed they couldn't come too, but they told us to tell you good luck for them. Leo also said to tell you that apparently being badass runs in the family."

Magnus wasn't sure how to react to being called badass, but Annabeth rolled her eyes with a smile, like it was expected for Leo to say something like that.

"Anyway, were staying at a room in Hogsmeade," Annabeth continued. "We'll be here for the celebration after the Tournament is over too."

"We're going to be the loudest people in the stands!" Percy said excitedly. He leaned in closer to Magnus and put a hand in front of his face like he was going to say something secret but he barely lowered his voice at all. "I brought a megaphone with me."

Magnus couldn't help laughing. The mental image of his friends taking turns to shout encouragements though a megaphone was hilarious.

They spent about an hour wandering around the school grounds and catching up. Magnus told Annabeth about his N.E.W.T.s, Annabeth told him about life at college, about how life was going in America.

"Dad's been watching the Tournament. He's really proud of you," Annabeth said. "He said he'd love it if you were able to come visit during the summer. He'd come here but it's not easy with his job."

"My mom wanted to meet you too," Percy said. "Though I warn you, she'll probably adopt you the moment she sees you. That's what she did you most of our friends."

"His mom is an angel," Annabeth said with the simplicity of someone stating the fundamental truths of the universe.

"I'd love to visit, though I'll have to see how my N.E.W.T.s went first," Magnus said. He knew his mum wasn't on good terms with her brothers – you had to be to move an ocean away from them – but he wanted to meet the rest of his family again.

"I thought so. And hey," Annabeth elbowed him playfully in the side, "dad said you can bring along a friend if you want." The way she gestured at Alex with her eyes wasn't subtle at all. Magnus blushed but a smile tugged at his lips nonetheless.

"Anyway," Annabeth went on casually, like she hadn't noticed Magnus's pink cheeks, "we should get going. Your curfew must be about now and you need your sleep for tomorrow."

Before Magnus could react she closed the distance between them and hugged him. "Good luck," she whispered. She pulled away with a smile that made Magnus's worries about tomorrow almost die down completely.

"Kick their asses, cuz!" Percy yelled dramatically, pumping his fist in the air as they headed back to Hogsmeade.

Magnus waved goodbye before heading back to the castle with his friends.

This was it. Tomorrow, after a whole year, the Triwizard Tournament was finally coming to an end.

* * *

 **So, if you haven't noticed, the final amount of chapters for this fic is now 25... unless something changes. That said, next chapter might take a bit longer because you all know by now that the chapters with the tasks are ridiculously long.**

 **On another note, the lighting thief musical is AWESOME!**


	24. Third Task

**Here it is folks! The Triwizard Tournament is coming to an end!**

 **Now, before we go on, some thing I've been meaning to say and kept forgetting: My sister came up with a shipname for Louis and Raphael (Rouis) and I feel strangely flattered. I just wanted to say that.**

 **I am sorry in advance for the jokes I made in this chapter. I _had_ to make them, okay?**

* * *

The morning of the Third Task found Magnus, Raphael and Helga in the empty Quidditch locker rooms. They had eaten a quick breakfast in the kitchens as per the Headmasters' orders – apparently so they wouldn't be stressed more by the other students – but none of them were able to eat a lot. Other students or not there was no way for them to be calm. A mixture of stress and excitement churned in Magnus's stomach and he couldn't keep his body still. A look at Raphael and Helga sitting at the bench opposite him told him they felt the same.

"So," he said, breaking the tense silence between them, "this is it, huh? Time to figure out who's the best."

"Yeah, and it's not going to be you," Helga snarled. The smirk fell off her face the moment she stopped talking as she realized how mean her voice sounded. "Ugh, force of habit, I'm sorry."

Magnus and Raphael chuckled at her. The embarrassed flush across her face and her awkwardly sorry expression were funny and they really needed something to cheer them up right now.

"It's okay," Magnus said. "We need a bit of competitiveness to pump us up anyway." Helga relaxed at his words but she still muttered a quiet sorry. She had been trying really hard to turn a new leif (get it?) and she'd constantly ask if what she was doing was okay or if she had accidently said something bad. Magnus had to give her points for trying.

"I can't believe we're already here," Raphael sighed wistfully. "It feels like I arrived at Hogwarts only yesterday and now we're about to compete for the Cup."

"Yeah, it's been a crazy year," Magnus agreed, letting his head fall back on the tiled wall. If he paid enough attention he could hear the thundering footsteps and loud voices of the audience filling the stands. It was baffling to think that all these people – not just those in the stands but everybody watching from their homes – were about to watch them compete for first place.

The door to the locker room opened and Headmistress Sonia looked inside. "Get ready. We're going to start in five minutes," she said a before going back out again.

The three Champions stood up and started checking if everything was in order. Their outfits fit perfectly, their laces were double-tied and their wands were in their place. Helga redid her ponytail, pulling the hair so tight that it pulled at her face. Raphael stretched his arms and legs Magnus joined him.

"This is it, gentlemen," Helga said, offering her outstretched hand to her two competitors. "May the best Champion win."

Magnus took Helga's hand and Raphael put his hand in as well. "May the best Champion win," they repeated. Gripping each other's for a moment, they let go, smiling at each other with fire in their eyes. Somebody would hold the Triwizard Cup by the end of the day but they wouldn't win it easily.

"And hey," Raphael said with a smirk, "whoever wins has to treat the rest of us to a Butterbeer."

Helga smiled. "I like that idea."

"Me too," Magnus agreed. "I don't mind having to treat you to a drink."

"Oh, you're going to be the one to treat us?" Raphael asked with a raised brow and a competitive glint in his eye.

"Like that's gonna happen." Helga was smirking, but it was playful, nothing the mean ones she wore when she came to Hogwarts.

Magnus smiled at his two competitors in this weird tournament and shrugged. "Just wait and see."

The door to the locker room opened, letting in the deafening sounds of the audience in the stands cheering for their Champions to come out.

"It's time to start," Headmaster Odin said, Headmaster Gilbert and Headmistress Sonia by his sides. His voice sounded like he was telling them it was time for them to be killed, but maybe that was just Magnus's nerves talking.

The three Champions followed them out to the middle of the Quidditch field. Three brooms were waiting by a wooden bow. The audience went wild when they saw them coming out. They were so loud it was making it hard for Magnus to hear his own thoughts - which was good because his thoughts weren't nice at the moment. It was almost too much to think that so many people were here – the entire population of Hogsmeade times ten must have been sitting at the stands.

Magnus stood in the middle of the field, Raphael and Helga by his side, and looked at the crowd. He squared back his shoulders and tried to seem more confident that he actually was. His eyes scanned over the crowd, searching for his friends. He found them by the bright green of Alex's hair and Sam's hijab. And yes, the almost obnoxious banner T.J and Halfborn were holding up.

Headmaster Odin cast a quick spell to make his voice carry to the stands and cleared his throat. "Students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Beauxbatons Academy and Durmstrang Institute, dear guests, we welcome you to the last and final task of the Triwizard Tournament!"

Cheers and applause and whistling erupted from the stands. Hundreds of voices melted together in an ear splitting cacophony that was louder than anything Magnus had ever heard in his life.

"Today's task is easy," Headmaster Gilbert continued. "All the Champions have to do to win is be the first to get to the Cup."

Magnus gulped as dread started settling in his stomach. If one of the Headmasters said the Task was going to be easy then it was going to be the farthest thing from that possible. _Oh, boy._

"But," Headmistress Sonia cut in, "they won't be told where the Cup is."

Sounds of confusion rolled off the audience. Magnus, Raphael and Helga looked at each other worried. This wasn't going to be good.

"Instead, they'll have to complete the map that will lead them there," the Durmstrang Headmistress continued.

"The map is made up of three pieces," Headmaster Gilbert said. "The Champions will have to go through a challenge to get each piece and once they have all three-"

"They need to run to the Cup," Headmaster Odin finished. "The first to touch the Cup is the winner!"

More earth-shaking clapping from the stands. Alex was yelling something at him, her hands cupped around her mouth, but he couldn't hear her over the crowd. He saw her take a megaphone from Percy's hands – so he had really brought one – and once the audience had calmed down somewhat she yelled,

"Kick their butts, babe!"

Raphael and Helga turned to Magnus and smirked at him. Magnus's face was flushing and he refused to look at the other two Champions. Or think about the fact Alex had just called him babe (and he kind of liked it).

"However," Headmistress Sonia cut in, "Apparating to the Cup once you know where it is or flying there by broomstick is strictly forbidden."

Headmaster Gilbert took the wooden box in his hands and opened it carefully, taking something from inside it and holding it up for the audience to see. One of the floating cameras was projecting the image onto the screens. The Beauxbatons Headmaster was holding a crystal-clear Snitch-like ball object the side of a tennis ball. Its see-through wings were beating rapidly as it tried to get away but Headmaster Gilbert didn't let it. Inside the object was a triangular little thing the color of old parchment.

"For the first challenge," the Frenchman started explaining, "three of these will be released in the Quidditch field. The Champions simply need to catch it and it will show them where to go look for the next piece of the map."

"Champions, on your brooms please." Headmistress Sonia gestured to the three identical brooms waiting for them. With one last look at each other, the three Champions stepped forward.

Broom in hand, they waited for the signal to start.

"Set."

Magnus threw his leg over the broomstick and got the right position.

"Ready."

Merlin, he really wishes he had more experience flying. He wasn't bad, but he was no Quidditch player.

"Go!"

Magnus kicked the ground and shot to the air. The wind hit his face as he got higher and higher. He could see why Sam loved this so much. Still, he hadn't flied much recently and it took him a moment to get his bearings. Helga was hovering to his left with much more ease than him and he felt his stomach twist into knots when he remembered a little thing about the girl.

She was on the Durmstrang Quidditch team. She was their best player.

 _Shit._

"We will release the balls on the count of three," Headmaster Odin said. "One. Two. Three!"

The balls were released. _All_ the balls. The three crystal Snitches as well as every ball in Hogwarts and the surrounding area in a five kilometers radius shot up towards the sky. The air around Magnus was suddenly filled with basketballs and footballs, beach-balls, volleyballs, baseballs and tennis balls and – dear Merlin, was that a Bludger? _Oh, shit._

"Oh ho, it seems like there was more to this challenge than the Champions thought!" Professor Thor said loudly, doing his usual job as announcer. He wouldn't sound so cheery about this if he was the one competing. "How are they going to find the Snitches among so many balls? And without being knocked out of the air by one of those nasty bludgers?"

 _This is way out of my pay grade,_ Magnus though bitterly. _Which is saying a lot, cause I don't get paid._

"Champions, begin!"

And with Headmaster Odin's final words, the game was on. Magnus looked around him frantically, trying to catch a glimpse of one of the crystal Snitches. _It might not be that bad,_ he reasoned with himself. There's three Snitches, so as long as he's fast he has more chances of finding one. Of course, that goes against him if only one is left.

Still, even with more than one Snitches, it was hard to see it. All those hundreds of balls made the air cluttered and there were obstacles every way you looked. Magnus flew in circles, remembering it was something Sam did when playing as Seeker. He was flying higher than he was when the balls were released and his eyes were trained to the air underneath him. The floating balls moved, but not by much. Still, all that movement was distracting and he almost missed the bright glint at the corner of his left eye.

"Oh, seems like Magnus Chase has spotted one of the Snitches!"

He dived after it immediately. His heart beat loudly as he nosedived to the ground and every sane part of him was yelling to stop before he flew straight into the ground. He didn't listen and chased after the glint, taking a sharp turn to the right when it changed its route. Some of the balls floating around bumped against him of hit him as he cut his way through it but he kept his eyes on that bright glint that was just a bit too far away.

"He's getting closer, folks! Will the Hogwarts Champion be the first to advance to the next challenge?"

He picked up his speed. The wind blew his hair out of his eyes as he flew with one arm extended in front of him to catch the Snitch. When the Snitch switched trajectories again he was able to turn in time and fly in front of it, successfully trapping it with his chest.

Only… it wasn't one of the Snitches. It was a baseball.

"Oh, looks like it was a false call!" Magnus heard Professor Thor say, adding to his annoyance.

He had only let the baseball go and was about to fly higher again when something collided with his back harshly. He let out a surprised as his body was pushed forward, his right hand losing its grip on the broom because of his surprise. For one long, horrible moment he thought he was going to fall off.

His arms shot out in instinct and grasped the broomstick. He managed to right himself up and he didn't fall off his broom, though he had ended up even closer to the ground than he was previously.

"Magnus Chase is still on his broomstick! That was a close call!"

 _You're telling me._

Magnus was flying higher again so he would have a better view of the entire field when he was attacked by one more bludger. It hit him in his right thigh and the force made him fly left. Then, before he could get his bearings, it hit him again, this time at his right side. Magnus cried out in pain as the collision made his ribs throb I pain. Seconds letter another ball collided with his left arm. The surprise of the hit loosened his grip on the broomstick but he didn't let go.

Before another bludger had the chance to hit him again, Magnus started flying as far as he could to shake those bloody balls off his trail. He zipped past Raphael and dared to look behind him. Nope, they were still following him. Great.

"Oh oh, looks like Magnus Chase is balls deep in trouble!" Professor Thor joked and Magnus cursed him under his breath because he had it bad enough without his horrible puns.

(He also cursed his brain for remembering all the times Alex had said that her middle name was Trouble because that was _not_ an image that should be coming to his mind when he has a hard piece of wood between his legs.

… Bad phrasing.)

He flew out of the maze of balls and started flying over it at speeds he honestly didn't know he could fly at. When he looked over his shoulder, the bludgers were still behind him and gaining ground. Now that he thinks about it, maybe removing what little objects there were between him and the balls wasn't a good idea.

Magnus looked over his shoulder again and was alarmed to find the bludgers even closer. _At this rate they're going to strike me down,_ Magnus though in a panic. He couldn't keep running away from them, he would never be able to catch one of the Snitches that way.

An idea suddenly came to his mind as he remember what he had done during the first task. He turned around to face the speeding bludgers and took his wand out of his pocket.

"Petrificus totallus!" He yelled as he aimed at the closer bludger. The ball froze in midair and went crashing to the ground. Magnus smiled in relief when his plan actually worked and he cast the spell again and again, striking each and every ball chasing him out of the sky.

"Helga Leifsson has managed to catch the first Snitch!" Professor Thor announced as the crowd, especially the Durmstrang supporters, went crazy. "Meanwhile, Magnus Chase has gotten away from the bludger that had been chasing him!"

 _Shit,_ Magnus thought as flew in circles over the field. Helga had been the first to catch a Snitch, which meant there were another two flying around the field at this moment.

As he scanned the field, he saw a bludger heading straight for Raphael's back. Without thinking about it much, he aimed at the ball and yelled, "Petrificus totallus!"

At the sound of his voice, Raphael turned to see Magnus pointing his wand at his general direction and a bludger frozen in the air for a moment before it fell to the ground unceremoniously.

"Merci, Magnus," Raphael said with a smile.

"No problem-" Magnus had started saying when his eyes caught it. There, flying over Raphael's shoulder, was a crystal Snitch.

Raphael pursed his lips in confusion when Magnus stopped talking so abruptly. He turned to look behind him at what surprised Magnus enough to make him stop speaking and he saw the Snitch.

"Raphael Beaumont and Magnus Chase have caught sight of the Snitch!"

Without so much as a glance at the other's direction, the two boys chased after the Snitch. The flying ball run away from them like a startled rabbit and the two remaining Champions went after it. It flew in a straight line across the field and Magnus followed it at breakneck speeds. He could see Raphael flying just a little bit ahead of him from the corner of his eye but he didn't dare look away from the Snitch in fear of losing it.

He leaned farther forward to go faster with his arm stretched out in front of him. They were getting closer and closer to the goal hoops nearest to the locker rooms and the Snitch kept flying just out of their reach. Magnus willed his broom to go faster; he had to catch the Snitch, he had to. He had finally flown ahead of Raphael when the Snitch suddenly disappeared.

Magnus stopped so suddenly he almost lost his balance and fell off his broom. Raphael was equally surprised, looking around him in confusion. It was when he looked up that the Beauxbatons Champion's eyes widened and he took off again, flying straight to the sky.

"The Snitch has changed course, ladies and gentlemen, and it's rocketing upwards!"

Magnus's head snapped upwards and, sure enough, Raphael was chasing after the Snitch that was zipping straight up. Magnus cursed for losing the small lead he had managed to get on the other boy and gave chase.

If nose-diving to the ground was scary flying to the sky was just as scary. Gravity pulled at him, beckoning him to let go and fall to the ground in a splat. He clung on his broom with everything in him and tried to catch up to Raphael.

Just when he felt his fingers slip the Snitch took a shark turn and dived to the ground. Magnus was in the front now since he was closer to the ground than Raphael and as such closer to the Snitch. Ten meters from the ground, the Snitch started flying straight again. Magnus was getting seriously annoyed with all these turns.

 _Can't it just fly straight and make this easier for me?_ He wondered mentally, even though he knew this was a competition so it had to be hard.

"The Snitch is making the Champions go in circles! Look at these turns, people!"

True to Thor's announcement, the Snitch kept taking sharp turns, only flying in the same direction for a few moments before switching. All those turns were making Magnus get nauseous, but it wasn't like he could ask for a time-out. He was thinking of little else than keeping up with the small crystal ball and not vomiting his breakfast on the grass of the field.

They were flying after the Snitch right after it had taken another sudden turn when Raphael left and flied towards to the goalpost. Magnus didn't pay any attention to it. Maybe he decided to look for the second Snitch instead of chasing after this one.

Only the Snitch turned again. And it flew straight towards Raphael.

Magnus realized what had happened a second too late. Raphael got ready on his broom, moved a bit to the right, extended his arm. The Snitch was flying forward and Raphael was closing in on it. He reached out and the crystal ball flew into his palm.

"Raphael Beaumont caught the second Snitch! The Beauxbatons Champion figured out the Snitch's pattern!"

Magnus cursed under his breath as Raphael flew to the ground and opened the Snitch to get the map. Great, they had both gotten their maps. He had to catch the last Snitch fast, or else he'd be too far behind. They probably wouldn't just give it to him if he was too late, right?

Magnus started flying in circles again. When all this ended he had to say congrats to Sam because he couldn't understand how she loved to chase after that little ball. It was so frustrating when you thought you were going to catch it but it got away at the last moment.

Magnus saw a glint to his left, but when he turned to look it wasn't there anymore. Then again, this time above him, but it still wasn't there when he looked. To the right – no, left – no, at the ground – the sky- ugh!

This was ridiculous! With all these balls flying around him and obscuring his view finding one small crystal ball was almost impossible, especially when it wouldn't stop moving around.

 _Think, Magnus, think. We all know you suck at sports, you need to catch that shit some other way…_

Maybe if he stroke all balls down like he had done with the bludgers? No, that would take too much time, time he didn't have. Maybe if he put a sticking charm on the goalposts and made it fly into them? But no, he can't make it go where he wants it to…

Make it go where he wants it to? Can he… can he do that? The Headmasters never mentioned a rule like that, so maybe…

Magnus raised his wand and hoped with everything in his heart this would work. "Accio snitch!"

"What is Magnus Chase doing-?" Professor Thor started saying but the words died in his throat when the Snitch zipped passed all the balls towards Magnus. Its crystal wings beat rapidly to fly in the other direction, but it was no use. The spell was too powerful and soon Magnus held it in his palm.

 _Why didn't I think of that earlier?_

"He- he did it! Magnus Chase found a loophole in the rules and caught the Snitch!"

Magnus floated down to the ground, his fingers gripping the Snitch so hard they had turned white. He was too scared that it would fly off if he let it go, but he had no reason to worry; the Snitch's wings had stopped beating the moment Magnus caught it.

Once his feet touched the ground he let go of his broom. He didn't want to ride one of those things again for months. His fingers uncurled from around the Snitch and before he had the time to even wonder how he was supposed to open it to get the map a seam formed in the middle of the ball. The thin line glowed and wrapped around the ball. When the two sides of the line met the ball split in two.

Magnus took the map and let the two halves of the Snitch fall to the ground. The small triangle flushed the moment he touched it, like he had just turned on a light-bulb. The brightness of the light quickly dimed, leaving behind an image of the Hogwarts grounds. Then, like a camera zooming in, it focused on the Big Lake. One more zoom and now the camera was past the water, inside the lake. It stayed still in front a dark cave and then something moved. A long tentacle giving way to-

Oh, no. The giant Squid.

Magnus pushed the map inside his pocket and started running. He ignored the dread settling in his stomach like cement in favor of coming up with all the spells that would help him to breath underwater. It was a pretty short list, which didn't help him ignore his anxiousness well.

It also didn't help that the run from the Quidditch field to the Big Lake was fairly quick. Before Magnus had enough time to prepare himself for facing a fucking _Giant Squid,_ he had arrived. He didn't see Raphael by the lake so he must have dived in already. Magnus put a sticking charm to his hand so he wouldn't lose his wand in the water and cast a Bubble-Head Charm on himself to breath underwater.

 _Here goes nothing,_ he thought before quickly jumping inside the lake. The water was cold in contrast to the warm air outside, but it was comfortable once his body got used to it. He started kicking his legs as he swam towards the part of the lake were the Giant Squid was. The students of Hogwarts could swim in the lake if they wanted when the weather was okay – and, if they were in fourth year and below, had a teacher supervisor – so they all knew which were the places in the lake they couldn't go near or else they would be trespassing in the Squid's territory. (The merpeople were pretty chill unless you peed in the lake.)

The water around him clear and Magnus could see all the small fish swimming around, passing moss-covered rocks and going through bushes of kelp. He would have loved to stay and look around some more, but he didn't have time for underwater sightseeing.

It wasn't hard to find the Squid's cave. First of all, it was huge, easily big enough to fit a three story building. Secondly, there was a giant Squid guarding the entrance. Not really something you missed easily. Especially when-

 _Oh, fuck._

Magnus swam even faster. One of the Squid's tentacles was wrapped in a vise grip around Helga's body, tightening more and more if the pain on her face was anything to go by. Magnus aimed at the Squid and cast a Stinging Hex at it. It seemed to surprise the Squid enough to make its tentacle unwrap around Helga and the girl swam away as fast as she could.

The bad thing was that now it had noticed both of them. And boy, was it angry. It's tentacles thrust out to catch the two intruders. Magnus kicked his legs frantically, but outrunning a water creature inside water was impossible, even if you were Michael Phelps, who Magnus clearly wasn' long appendage caught him and Magnus shuddered at how weird the texture felt against his skin. The Squid tightened its grip around his body and Magnus gasped.

 _I don't want to die in a tentacle hentai,_ Magnus thought as he thrust around, trying to slip out of the creature's grip. He had no such luck, and neither did Helga. He tried a Stinging Hex again but to no avail; the creature's hold on him relaxed for only a split second and Magnus wasn't able to get away. The Squid's tentacle squeezed him harder and Magnus fought not to gasp and lose more air.

There was a bright flash of light to the left and all of a sudden the Squid's tentacles let go of him. Magnus didn't waste a moment and cast Ventus. The strong gust of wind that came out of his wand propelled him away from the deadly creature and close to a thick bunch of kelp (it also created a trail of bubbles behind him, which was kinda cool).

Safely hidden behind the kelp, Magnus looked to the direction the flash of light had come from. The Squid still seemed very confused about what had just happened, but Magnus saw a pair of dark legs swimming behind a large boulder. _Thanks, Raphael._

With the Squid distracted, Magnus got the chance to have a better look at the inside of the cave, or what little of it he could see from his hiding place. There wasn't much, just lots of mossy rocks and seashells, as well as long tendrils of kelp that swayed with the current-

 _Wait_.

Magnus's eyes widened as he got an idea. He stood still for a few more moments, his eyes trained on the kelp inside the cave, how it bowed to the left like a branch in the wind. Feeling certain he was onto something, he glanced at the Squid. It was still distracted by the flash of light Raphael created and was paying attention to the other side. _It's now or never._

Magnus exited his hiding place and swam to the right side of the cave. The cave looked like a big bowl protruding from the walls of the lake, its top offering a sort of roof to the Squid. From higher up in the water you couldn't even see the opening of the cave thanks to all the rocks piled on its roof. It was a weird cave shape, not that Magnus had seen many underwater caves, so maybe it was normal for them to look like that.

The side of the cave was, well, rocky. Magnus swam closer, his eyes scanning for what he was looking for. He heard sounds of conflict in the distance, but it must have been close since water muffled the noise. It was probably Helga or Raphael trying to get pass the Squid. If Magnus idea was correct he'd show it to them.

He smiled when he saw a tiny bunch of kelp on the rocks swaying closer to the wall. He pulled with his arms and got closer and –yes! There was an opening! It wasn't huge – simply big enough to let the current inside and make the kelp Magnus had seen move. Still, he could probably fit. Thank Merlin he wasn't as large as Halfborn.

He swam closer and felt around the opening with his fingers. A few rocks were loose and he pulled them aside to make the hole bigger. Thankfully the hole didn't come crushing down on his hand. That would have been horrible.

He ducked down so his head was aligned with the opening and swam inside, his arms stuck to his sides. The space was awfully claustrophobic and despite never having a problem with small spaces Magnus couldn't wait to get out of it. Still, he had never been more thankful for being so scrawny. It was a tight fit around his shoulder but not so bad that he would be stuck there. Thank Merlin he didn't have big hips like Sam or else he would have been doomed.

He had never been so glad for having two centimeters of space around him as he was when he slipped out of the hole and into the Squid's cave. The light inside was horrible but Magnus didn't dare to cast a Lumos in fear that the Squid would see the light and attack him. What little light came through cave's mouth was just enough for him to make out his surroundings. The bush of kelp that had helped Magnus find the backdoor of the cave was much bigger up close, big enough to hide himself and another person inside.

He kicked his legs and went closer to the moss-covered rocks he had seen from the outside. They were more like boulders than rocks and Magnus grabbed them to push himself further into the cave. He felt vulnerable being inside the nest of such a large and dangerous creature so he made himself swim faster. The quicker he got the map the quicker he would be out of here without turning into Squid Snacks.

As he swam, the light hit again a part of the back wall of the cavern, making something there twinkle for just a moment. Magnus kicked at the rock behind him and propelled himself closer to the source of the sparkling. At the farthest end of the cavern, nestled between the rocks, were three large clams. They were too big, too shiny to belong to the cave.

He took the one at the top in his hands and the clam opened instantly. Instead of whatever was inside clams, a crystal ball big enough to fit in his palm sat inside the seashell like a pearl in an oyster. Inside the ball was the second part of the map.

Magnus took the ball and put it in his pocket, letting the clam fall to the sandy floor of the cave. He was about to turn back to the opening to leave when one of the Squid's tentacles wrapped around him again. Magnus gasped as the air was squeezed out of his lungs. The Squid him hauled him out of the cave, hitting him against the wall in the process. Magnus winced at the pain in his head, the hit making him feel dizzy.

When the dizziness gave away and Magnus opened his eyes he found himself face to face with the Squid's large eyes. (So, it was more like face to eyes, but whatever.) Horrified, he realized that being hit against the wall had dispelled the Bubble-Head Charm and he now had no way to breathe.

The creature didn't seem to recognize what he was and it was examining him closely. Magnus didn't need to be a genius to know the Squid would decide he looked like food in the end and eat him. He needed to get away _now._

Unfortunately for him, his wand arm was pressed against his side and his wand only barely peaked out of the Squid's tentacle. He wouldn't be able to aim very well like this but he couldn't do nothing. As a plan formulated in his mind, Magnus employed the defense mechanism all small children knew was perfect to escape a bigger opponent (like your mum that was making you eat broccoli). Magnus opened his mouth wide and bit down at the Squid's tentacle.

The bite must have hurt because the Squid let him go immediately. Magnus lost no time and cast Ventus again to put him out of the creature's reach. He managed to put some distance between them but the Squid was obviously furious. And Magnus, like an idiot, made it even more furious. He aimed at its nearest eye and fired a Stinging Hex. He might not know a lot about Squid anatomy, but he was pretty sure the eyes were a weak spot for most animals.

The Giant Squid screeched, closing its eyes tightly to protect them from any more harm. With it unable to see anymore, Magnus aimed and used his best Petrificus totallus on it. He knew the spell wouldn't hold it for long but it would give him enough time to get out of the water. He wouldn't need a lot of time either anyway – his lungs were already burning from the lack of air.

The Squid was frozen in place by the spell, but the spell of just a single wizard wouldn't be able to keep it like that for long. It was already struggling against it and it wouldn't take long for it to be able to move again. Magnus saw Raphael and Helga by the mouth of the cave, swimming inside. He saw Helga cast the spell again, winning a bit more time for them.

Confident that they would be alright (and that he needed to breathe _now_ ), Magnus used Ventus to get away from the cave quicker. The spell propelled him a good ways across the lake (scaring a few poor fish for life in the process) and he had made it to the shore before too long. He pulled himself out and plopped down on the wet soil, taking a long, nice moment to enjoy breathing. He never would have thought he'd enjoy converting oxygen into carbon dioxide so much.

A couple of second later, Magnus stood up. He couldn't stay lying on the mud forever (even if it was kind of comfy). He cast a spell to dry himself off and pulled the crystal ball out of his pocket and held it in front of his face. Like with the first one, a thin line of bright line wrapped around the ball, cutting it in two neat halves that fell on the ground. Magnus thought something would happen when he touched the map like with the first piece, but it didn't. It didn't glow and it didn't show him anything; it simply remained a piece of old parchment.

Something stirred in his pocket and Magnus realized that the other piece of the map was getting warmer. He quickly pulled it out and brought it close to the second half. The two pieces snapped together like they were magnets. They fit together perfectly, like puzzle pieces, which they technically were.

The new map glowed as the two parts became one. Once the glowing subsided, Magnus was able to make out a dark part of the woods. The image zoomed in, past the trees and bushes, past a fallen log, until it finally stopped in front of a dark pocket of the forest where large spiders sat on a dome-like web.

Magnus felt cold sweat run down the back of his neck and his stomach twisted in knots. _The Acromantula nest._ To find the next part of the map he had to go into the nest of giant, flesh-eating motherfucking spiders. Merlin's thong, who in their right mind came up with these tasks?

Still, he had no choice but to go there. Maybe he would be lucky and find a giant glass along the way. (Would that even work?)

Magnus put the map back in his pocket and started running to the Forbidden Forest. For a place called 'forbidden' he sure had to go in it a lot for the tournament, huh? He was nervous at first that he wouldn't be able to find his way to the Acromantula nest – since he wasn't stupid enough to have tried going there before – but it seemed he didn't have to worry because small glowing orbs hovered along the path to the nest. Apparently they didn't want the three Champions to die before coming face to face with the human-eating insects.

The further he run into the forest, the darker it got. The trees above his head grew odder and older, their trunks thicker, their foliage denser and the light that made it through their leaves became less and less. It was so dark he would have thought it was late afternoon instead of morning if he didn't know any better.

He knew he was getting closer to the nest when he started hearing less animal sounds. Anything that lived in the forest would know not to come close to the nest of such a strong predator. He could imagine squirrels looking on from the trees and thinking he was crazy for running straight into the home turf of something that could eat him whole easily.

He was passing over the fallen log the map had showed when he first noticed the webs. Fine strings of snow-white spider-web stretched between the trees, woven together in domed shapes above his head. Magnus's most basic instincts screamed at him to flee, but he forced himself to ignore them as he kept running. The web became denser the deeper he got into the Acromantulas' territory, so closely woven together that it was like standing below a circus's tent.

In all, being in the Acromantulas nest was eerie. What little light made it through the leaves bounced off the white webs, giving this corner of the forest a ghostly lighting. The hairs at the back of Magnus's neck stood on end as he walked farther inside the nest. He felt hundreds of hungry eyes on him and willed himself to walks with his back straight. He couldn't show fear to the spiders or he was done for.

"What do you seek here, child?" A voice said behind Magnus. The Hogwarts Champion jumped in surprise and bit his lip to hold a yelp from exciting his lips. Behind him, climbed up on the web that wrapped around the trunk of a tree, was an Acromantula. It was as large as a horse-cart, its legs easily bigger than Magnus's height. Thick hair covered its body and its eight eyes stared Magnus down like he was nothing more than a pest to this large creature.

Magnus realized that several seconds had passed since the spider had spoken and he still hadn't replied. He pushed his shoulders back stood as straight as he could to appear taller. "I'm here for the third part of the map," he said and thank Merlin he didn't stutter.

The spider in front of him made a low sound at the back of its throat that sounded suspiciously like laughing. "Stupid child, you're here to be food."

The spider approached him fast, faster than he thought something so large could move. Magnus whipped around, ready to gun it out of here, but he staggered backwards when he came face to face with several Acromantulas gathered around him. The spiders' jaws clicked together maliciously as they eyed him down. Magnus backed away, feeling like a mouse inside a room full of cats.

Magnus aimed his wand at the Acromantula in front of him. His arm was shaking. " _Confringo!" The spell hit the spider and sent it flying backwards, but the rest were still advancing towards him. He attacked the spiders again and again, but every time he managed to get rid of one, two seemed to pop up in its place._

 _Magnus was soon overwhelmed by the spiders. His wand was knocked out of his hand and two spiders dragged him away towards the web. Magnus thrust around and kicked, trying to get himself free, but it was no use against the two large creatures and the entire colony._

 _Magnus was thrown against a wide piece of web that draped down a tree to the ground. Before he had any time to try escaping, the spiders were upon him again, spinning their web around him and trapping him inside a white cocoon. Magnus yelled and screamed, but the spiders didn't react at all._

 _"Maybe we should cover his head too," one of the spiders said to another one. The second spider was much bigger than its peers, at least twice as big, its fur much darker, and when it talked its voice sounded weirdly female._

 _"No," the larger spider said. "Leave its head free. I want to see its expression when we catch the other two."_

 _The leader – Magnus was certain that this huge Acromantula was the Alpha female of the colony – came closer. There was something very unsettling about the way the spiders moved on their long legs. The Alpha climbed up the web Magnus was trapped on until she was face to face with Magnus._

 _"Tell me, do you know why we agreed to this weird tournament of yours, human?" she asked. Liquid dripped down her large jaws and Magnus's heart beat lauder when he realized that her body was producing more venom in order to eat him._

 _"No," Magnus said. He fought to make his voice sound stable and to look the leader in the eyes, but it was kind of hard when she had eight._

 _"It's because it's almost time for our young to hatch," she said. She moved slightly to the side, making enough room for Magnus to see the dip in the ground where several dozen beach-ball sized eggs lay. They twitched around, like something was moving inside, and they looked terrible frail._

 _"They're going to come out any time now and when they do…" The Alpha used one of her legs to angle Magnus head up and get better access to his neck. Magnus could feel her warm, musky breath against his skin and his breath hitched._

 _"They will want to eat," she finished, letting Magnus head fall down again. Magnus let down the breath he was holding and tried to even his breathing. He felt vulnerable trapped her in the Acromantulas' nest, a weak prey among dozens of predators._

 _"Sent out scouts," the Alpha ordered. "Find the other two and bring them back."_

 _Five spiders hissed something back and scurried off into the woods. Magnus glared at the back of the queen, knowing very well that she didn't have to give that order in English. She only did it make it clearer to Magnus that she had the power here, not him._

 _And as much as Magnus hated to admit it, she was right. He was completely trapped, with nothing to cut the web around him and with his wand lying useless on the ground-_

 _Wait_ , _what?_

The wand wasn't there anymore. Magnus's pulse picked up. Did it get kicked by accident by one of the other spiders? Where was it? If he somehow managed to get out of the web that was holding him down he wouldn't stand a chance without his wand.

"Pss," something said in Magnus's ear. He almost yelped in surprise before a hand pressed against his mouth. But… there wasn't a hand there.

"It's okay," the voice said again and Magnus realized it was Helga. "It's me. I put a Disillusionment Charm on myself. Raphael is near that tree." Helga angled his head slightly so that Magnus was looking at a big tree with a bush near its roots, but no Raphael. He must be invisible too. "I have your wand. I will cut the web around you but you mustn't move so they don't realize you can escape."

Magnus nodded as discretely as he could and remained silent. He could feel the edge of something sharp against his sides and his bonds started feeling less tight. Magnus flex his fingers and Helga pushed his wand into his palm.

"We have to work together," Magnus whispered back, his eyes stuck on the Acromantulas in front of him. Thankfully, none of them seemed to have heard him.

"I know," Helga whispered back. Each one of them on their own had no hopes of getting the map and making out of the forest, but maybe they could do it if they worked together. "The maps are in the pit with the eggs." Magnus looked toward the pit and, sure enough, on the top of the pile were three crystal balls. "I'll try to get them and Raphael will come here to help you escape. You run when you hear a whistle."

"Are you sure you can do this?" Magnus asked, eyes still stuck on the eggs. There were so many spiders around the pit, getting there and running away with all three balls seemed impossible.

"I am," Helga said. "I'm the fastest one out of us. Plus, somebody has to do it." There was a moment of silence before she continued, voice somehow even quieter. "I hurt you on purpose in the First Task, so I have to help you now."

Magnus wanted to stop her and tell her she didn't need to put her life in danger to be forgiven, but he didn't get the chance. Before he was able to open his mouth to talk he felt her weight disappear from next to him.

He clenched his fingers around his wand and waited. His eyes were trained on the egg pit, waiting for some kind of movement that would let him know Helga had made it. The Queen was climbed on an extravagant hammock-like structure woven together from web, her eight eyes looking over the other spiders.

He felt a warm hand on his leg and realized Raphael must be standing close to him. The other boy didn't say anything and neither did Magnus. He couldn't see the Beauxbatons Champion, but he was no doubt looking at the eggs as well.

The mountain of eggs moved a bit, but Magnus didn't notice at first since they twitched around on their own quite a bit. He saw the movement again and his heart leapt when one of the crystal balls flew in the air for a few seconds before it disappeared. Heart pounding in his ears, he glanced around nervously to see if any of the spiders had noticed. Thankfully none of them seemed to be paying attention to the crystal balls.

None except one. An Acromantula close to the egg pit had seen the movement of the eggs from the corner of its eyes and had turned around just as Helga was putting the second ball in her pocket. The spider's eight eyes widened and it whipped around to face its leader.

"Queen!" It yelled. "One of the humans is stilling the crystal balls!"

 _Fuck._

Helga's invisible hand snatched up the last crystal ball, but now the eyes of the entire colony were on her. The spiders started surrounded her, their jaws clicking even more as they tried to smell where she was. Magnus's heart beat like a drum as the spiders all closed in on a specific spot. They couldn't possible know exactly where she was by smell alone, but they had a general direction, and it wasn't hard to figure out her position when the ring they had formed around her became smaller and smaller.

 _Damn it, damn it, damn it,_ Magnus kept thinking, his hands clenched into fists below the webs that were supposed to be trapping him. He had to help somehow, but if he revealed that he had gotten free they would be in even more trouble. _Damn it, damn it._

The swarm of Acromantulas kept getting closer to Helga, their long legs forming a cloud of dust as they moved frantically along the ground-

Wait. That's it!

"Duck!" Magnus screamed as loud as he could. The spiders didn't pay attention to him, too busy hunting down their new pray to bother with a stupid human. Raphael was looking at Magnus confused, not really understanding where a duck fit in all of this.

Magnus held his breath as he waited, his eyes darting from the spiders closing in on an invisible target to the ground below their large bodies. The spiders where closer now – if Helga hadn't listened to him they would catch he any minute now.

But no. The spiders reached the middle of the circle and bumped against each other. Whatever they were trying to catch had disappeared. Magnus let out his breath as he scanned the ground for anything out of the ordinary-

There! The dust below the large belly of one of the Acromantulas was moving strangely and some of it clung onto a human form. Thank Merlin, she had heard him! With their long legs, there was enough space under the Acromantulas for Helga to crawl out of trouble.

The spiders hissed and growled at each other confused, scuttling about as they tried to figure out where their new meal had gone to. It would almost be funny if Magnus wasn't currently in their nest and they outnumbered them 30 to 1.

"Come on, let's go," Helga said once she reached Magnus and Raphael. They cast a quick Disillusionment Charm on him and helped him get off the web as quickly as possible. Magnus had to admit, trying to get off a giant spider's web while being invisible was pretty hard.

The three Champions held hands as they run from the Acromantulas' nest so they wouldn't lose each other. They had only managed a few meters when one of the spiders yelled, "The human got out!"

Without a moment of hesitation, they started running. The spiders all hurried to the web Magnus had been trapped on and the Queen yelled again and again, "Find them! Find them!" Chaos ensued in the nest as dozens of spiders scrambled around to find the missing humans.

A spider was walking straight towards Magnus and the blonde had to let go of Raphael's hand to dodge the insect. With no way to find the other two Champions without giving away his position to the spiders, Magnus run among the hundreds of Acromantulas to get away. He could make a sound and he could let them touch him in any way or else they might realize he was there. He almost fell when he took a sharp turn to avoid an incoming spider and run straight into a try when avoiding another one. It was like trying to run through a large crowd during half-off sales, except the crowd wanted to kill you and eat your insides… so yeah, exactly like sales.

Magnus didn't stop running even when he was out of the nest. He looked back over his shoulder to see the nest a good way behind him and canceled the spell on him. He would have kept running if he hadn't run into… nothing.

"Ow," Magnus said after landing on his ass on the hard ground. He looked at the air in front of him confused, but it wasn't long before his fellow Champions canceled the charms on the and appeared in front of him.

"We lost you back there," Raphael said as he offered Magnus a hand to get up. Magnus took it.

"Yeah, a spider almost run me over," Magnus explained as he dusted off his pants. "I never thought I'd say that."

Helga chuckled. "Yeah, I never thought I'd be in danger of becoming baby food for spiders either."

Helga dug into her pockets and held out one of the crystal balls for Magnus. "Let's open it together," she said.

Magnus and Raphael nodded. They held the balls in front of them and watched as all three of them cracked it half. The three Champions glanced at each other and shared a quick nod before counting down together.

"One," Raphael said.

"Two," Helga continued.

"Three!" Magnus finished.

They put the last piece of the map with the rest and watched as they glowed and became one. Once the light died down, they watched as images formed on the map. A cluster of houses, no bigger than a village, train tracks running through it. The image zoomed in and they saw the familiar streets of Hogsmeade zipping by. They map went past the train station, past the post office and the various shops. It focused in on the village's church, the image climbing up the church's steeple and zooming in through the window.

There, in the middle of the small room at the top if the tower, bellow the large bell, was the Triwizard Tournament Cup. It was beautiful, its ornate silver handles and base connecting to a large glass cup that seemed to be every color of the rainbow at once.

They three Champions started running. Magnus's map was hastily shoved into his pocket as he dashed through the forest. Helga might be faster than him on flat terrain, but moving through the Forbidden Forest wasn't a top-speed sprint – you had to avoid trees, fallen logs, rocks and short plants. Magnus was grateful for all the times he had run off and made his mum chase him through forests when they were camping. He was moving through the woods a lot more nimbly than his opponents and was a few meters ahead of them.

He heard a cry behind him and when he looked over his shoulder he saw Helga on the ground – she had tripped on a large rock jutting out of the ground. Magnus didn't turn around to help her – she was already getting up on her own.

Slowly, Raphael was catching up to Magnus. The trees around them weren't as closely packed as before and the ground was smothered since more feet had walked on it. They were approaching the end of the forest and Magnus knew his problems would start here.

As they left the trees of the forest behind them, Magnus started losing his head start. The ground was significantly flatter now and the uneven terrain that had given him an advantage in the forest was now gone. Both Raphael and Helga were catching up to him. Magnus pushed himself to run faster, but not by much. They still had a ways to go for the church and he couldn't tire himself out when they were still so far away.

As they run through the castle grounds to Hogsmeade, Magnus tried his best to at least keep up with the other two Champions. Raphael and Helga were tied at the front, neck to neck for the first place, while Magnus followed a couples meters behind. His legs burned with the effort it took to keep up his speed for such a long distance but he didn't allow himself to slow down.

They were in Hogsmeade now and Magnus was trying to come up with any shortcuts he knew for the church, but none of them were any good. He was still in last place and unless he found a way to outrun his opponents he wasn't going to win. He tried to run faster, but it only seemed to be doing the opposite as Raphael and Helga picked up their speed as they saw the church in the end of the street.

 _Come one, come on, think of something!_ Magnus was panting as he thought of a way to outrun Helga and Raphael and come out ahead. He couldn't apparate to the cup and he could accio a broom to get there either-

 _Wait. Would… would that even work?_

Magnus didn't have long to think about it. He was less than a block away from the church now and Helga with Raphael were already closer to the door.

 _Here goes nothing, I guess._

"Depulso!" Magnus yelled as he pointed his wand at himself. His feet left the ground and Magnus was met with the weird feeling of flying without a broomstick, but he fought to keep himself focused. He swished his wand and sent himself flying towards the top of the steeple.

The Headmasters said they couldn't fly to the cup by _broomstick_ but they never said anything about another form of flying. Magnus knew Depulso – the opposite of Accio – could work on a human (courtesy of Alex using it on Halfborn as prank) but moving himself through the air by magic was straining and there was no way he would be able to keep this up for much longer.

He stared at the window at the top of the steeple as hard as he could as he tried to move himself there. The window was coming closer and closer, but he was already panting and he felt his magic waver the longer he held on. The spell wasn't meant to be used for long, or for such a large distance, but Magnus couldn't let himself fall down now.

Five meters away and he was wondering if he would even make it. Three meters and he was barely holding onto the spell. Two meters and the windowsill was _just_ out of his reach. One meter… one meter…

Magnus's spell fell apart just as he touched the windowsill. His weight came crushing down on his hands as his body now longer floated. He was hanging from the steeple's windowsill, his body against the stone wall. He was over ten meters up in the air, he knew it very well, and he didn't let himself look down.

He put all the strength he had in his arms and pushed himself up. Thankfully the church was made of uneven rocks and his feet were able to find small grooves to push his body up despite the church being exposed to the elements for so many years. Still, the task was grueling and he almost slipped on the smooth rocks multiple times.

Finally, he managed to drag his upper body of the windowsill and proceeded to topple onto the floor. This might have been the dusty floor of church's steeple, but Magnus could really take a nap right now.

Still, he could hear footsteps approaching and realized Helga and Raphael must be climbing up the stairs. He pushed himself up quickly just as Raphael's head emerged from the doorway and ducked under the bell. The Cup stood on a pedestal in the middle of the bell and Magnus reached out, his hands just a centimeter away, and then he was holding the Cup in his hands, the multicolored glass shinning brighter than ever.

Suddenly, Magnus felt like he was being hit by strong winds as his body was dragged forward, like there was a rope tied around his waist pulling him somewhere. _The Cup is a portkey,_ Magnus realized as his feet hit solid ground again and he found himself in the middle of Quidditch field.

He looked around baffled as he took everything in. Helga and Raphael were a few meters away from Magnus, looking just as confused as he felt. Confetti fell from the sky and every single person in the stands was standing up, clapping and yelling and cheering. The uproar was absolutely deafening and it was almost hard to imagine that all this noise was made by humans.

"He did it!" Professor Thor yelled from the speakers as Alex with the rest of their friends in tow run towards Magnus and tackled him to the ground. "Magnus Chase has won the Triwizard Tournament!"

* * *

 **I hoped you liked the last task! Next week is the final chapter and good god, I can't believe this is actually coming to an end. I'll probably get emotional next week too, but I can't tell you how grateful I am to all of you for sticking with me through this whole journey! I would hug you, but there's a screen in the way... so just hug your screen and feel my ghost arms around you?**

 **Anyway, until next time!**


	25. Partyyy!

**We're finally here, folks! The last chapter! I'm going to keep all the emotional stuff for the end notes, but I wanted to say my sister has almost finished drawing the gang the first time they went to Hogsmeade together, so I'll post it on my tumbl when she finishes.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

"He did it! Magnus Chase has won the Triwizard Tournament!"

Magnus could hardly believe what was happening. He felt like the air had been knocked out of him, which it had when Alex tackled him to the ground. His green-haired girlfriend had her arms wrapped around his neck as she kissed Magnus senseless. The crowd around them was cheering them on and whistling, but Alex didn't really seem deterred by it. When she finally let him breathe properly, she didn't get off him immediately.

"Good job, Maggie," she said softly. Magnus smiled up at her, the fear of being beaten by bludgers, mauled by the Giant Squid and eaten by the Acromantulas forgotten.

"Hey, Alex," Halfborn cut in, "you can snog Magnus later, we want to congratulate him too!"

Alex huffed but got off Magnus and offered him a hand to get up too. "I'll hold you to that," she told Halfborn with her characteristic shit's-gonna-go-down smirk. Halfborn seemed to reconsider his words.

The moment Magnus stood up he was embraced by Annabeth, who was hugging him so tightly Magnus felt the pressure in his ribs. He hugged his cousin back as well as he could with the Cup still hanging from his hand.

"Congratulations, cousin," she said when she finally pulled away from him. Percy was standing behind her wearing a Hogwarts t-shirt and his megaphone under his armpit, giving Magnus double thumbs up.

"Thanks," Magnus told Annabeth. He yelped in surprised when Halfborn put his arm around his shoulders and squeezed him close to his side. Mallory jumped in as well, hugging Magnus from the other side.

"Congratulations, blondie!" They said in unison. Magnus would have been upset about the nickname if he wasn't too busy smiling at his friends. Sam hugged him next, followed by Amir, who promised him a free extra large order of falafel next time he came by the shop. Guess almost being eaten by spiders has its benefits.

"Okay, people, like we practiced!" T.J yelled suddenly. The Hogwarts students gathered around Magnus surged forward quickly and Magnus found himself being hosted up on people's hands and shoulders.

"Wh-what- oh!" Magnus cried out. The mass of people underneath him moved forward towards the exit of the Quidditch field, cheering loudly like a carnival parade. Some students threw confetti in the air, others fireworks and some used their wands to create bright sparks and multicolored bubbles.

"Magnus! Magnus! Magnus!" They kept chanting his name as they moved through the school grounds, loud and joyous. The air was buzzing with laughter and cheers as the Hogwarts students took Magnus on a victory round around the Big Lake.

The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students were close behind, each with their own Champion on their backs. They cheered just as piercingly, like they were competing about who could celebrate the hardest.

They didn't let Magnus get down until they had reached Hogwart's large main door, and even then they had to open the double doors dramatically open-sesame style and carry him through them before they allowed him to stand on his own two feet again.

"Did you seriously practice that?" Magnus asked T.J as he watched the younger students rush inside the Hall of the Slain to party.

"Yep!" T.J replied with a smile. "We used Alex as your substitute since you're about the same size."

"It's pretty comfortable way to move once you get used to it," Alex commented. "So, what are we doing now? We need to celebrate!"

"Oh, the teachers said seventh year students are allowed to go to Hogsmeade," Sam said. "Maybe we could go to Valhalla?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Mallory cheered. "Let's go!"

"Oh, wait, I need to do something first!" Magnus said and left, leaving the Triwizard Cup in Alex's arms.

Finding his way through the crowd was a nightmare with so many people packed in the Hogwarts entrance. Even worse, people wouldn't let him through without congratulating him for winning the Tournament, which, yes, was very kind of them, but it didn't really help when he was trying to find someone quickly.

Finally, he found Raphael close to the wall with Louis. They were talking with some adults Magnus hadn't seen before, but he could easily tell they were Raphael's and Louis's parents.

The couple on the right had the same beautiful dark skin as Raphael, the father standing with the same confidence as his son and the mother with the same kind eyes. A young girl – about twelve, probably –was gushing about something to Raphael and good Merlin, it was like looking at a miniature of Raphael.

The couple on the left was talking to Louis about something – Magnus couldn't hear what. Louis's father had his son's green eyes and his mother his blonde curls and chubby cheeks. As Magnus came closer he could hear them talking in rapid French and he noticed a plastic bag hanging by the arm of Louis's mother, the name of their bakery in an elegant font (which he couldn't read because the only French he knew was crepe, croissant and Eiffel).

Magnus stood to the side for a bit, not wanting to interrupt family time, but Raphael spotted him and called him over.

"Oh, Magnus, hi! Congratulations on winning the Cup!" Raphael turned to his parents and introduced Magnus. "Maman, Papa, this is Magnus Chase. These are my parents and the little _peste_ is Alya."

" _Salut!"_ Alya exclaimed. Her accent was thicker than Raphael's "Raphy said your _amoureuse_ has green hair! That's so cool! I want colored hair too!"

Raphael's mother smiled at Alya. "Maybe when you're older." That didn't seem to satisfy the young girl because she crossed her arms and pouted. Magnus was barely able to cover up his smile; Raphael's little sister was adorable.

Raphael's father took both Magnus's hands in his own and the blonde looked at nervously. Raphael looked more embarrassed than worried. "Thank you very much for helping our son in the First Task," Raphael's father said. There was such genuine gratitude in his eyes Magnus felt like he was the one who should be saying thanks.

"N-no, it's alright," Magnus stammered out. He smiled at Raphael's parents before turning back to his two friends. "Um, anyway, me and the others are going to Valhalla and I wanted to see if you wanted to come along."

"Sure," Raphael said. "You owe me and Helga a Butterbeer, if I'm not mistaken."

Magnus chuckled and nodded. "I guess I do. The others must be close to the door, I'll go find Helga and meet you there."

Magnus left to find Helga and Louis with Raphael told their parents goodbye, Louis kissing his parents cheeks. Most students had left the entrance hall by now, so it was much easier to look for the Durmstrang Champion. He found Helga talking to Agatha and what must be Agatha's parents, a lanky man with Agatha's dirty blonde hair and another man with black hair in a small ponytail.

"Helga!" He called out. The four of them turned around to look at Magnus. He greeted Agatha's parents before turning back to the two girls. "We're going to Valhalla with the others and I wanted to see if you wanted to come along."

Helga smiled brightly and nodded. She seemed so happy to be invited that Magnus wondered if people generally asked her to go out with them before.

Magnus waited off to the side for Helga and Agatha to say goodbye before the three of them headed off to find the rest of the group. They weren't by the Hogwarts entrance so Magnus assumed they already went to Valhalla. The walk there would have been quiet if it wasn't for the huge amount of students and spectators that were milling around Hogsmeade, making the air buzz with hundreds of different voices.

"Oh, congratulations on winning, Magnus," Helga said at one point. "That was a clever trick you thought of at the end. Wish I had thought of that."

"Oh, thank you. What place did you get?" He felt a bit awkward for asking, like he was shoving it into Helga's face that she hadn't won, but he honestly wasn't able to hear who finished second and who third with all the commotion that was going on.

"I got third since I was the farthest from the Cup when you touched it," Helga answered; she didn't seem at all annoyed by Magnus's question. "It's kind of nice, to be honest. I took part in the Triwizard Tournament, I gave it my best and I had fun. I lost and no one is going to chew me out for it." Magnus didn't have to ask to know that 'no one' was her parents. "I'm allowed to lose."

Agatha squeezed Helga's hand and smiled at her warmly. Helga returned the smile with the softest expression Magnus had ever seen. Helga was looking at Agatha like there were a million things she wanted to thank her for and didn't know where to start. The whole exchange, as sort as it was, felt awfully intimate and Magnus looked away to give them privacy.

Magnus thought that the streets of Hogsmeade were noisy, but that was nothing compared to when they opened the door to Valhalla and stepped inside the shop. Everything was ten times louder, like putting on headphones and forgetting you had left the sound at full volume. There were people everywhere, from students to adults and even some reporters too busy drinking to actually report anything. The place was so crowded Magnus was afraid they would find a place to sit. They were thirteen people after all.

"Maggie! Over here!" How Magnus was able to hear Alex in all this commotion he didn't know, but finding her in the crowd wasn't hard. Mostly because her hair was green, she was dressed in green and pink and she was standing on top of a table with a Butterbeer at hand. Not exactly someone you can miss.

"Grab a seat!" Alex said once he got near to their table, patting the place next to her. Her cheeks were flushed red and Magnus would bet the Cup that wasn't _just_ Butterbeer in her cup.

"How did you manage to get a table?" Helga asked. Magnus's friends were sitting at a large round table at the back of the shop. "This place is packed full!"

"I said I'm Magnus's cousin and that we were here to celebrate," Annabeth explained. "The owner was beyond happy to give a table to all three Champions."

"He gave us free chips too!" T.J added, holding up a half-empty plate of chips. Magnus would bet he hadn't had just Butterbeer either.

The waitress soon came by to give Magnus, Helga and Agatha a glass of Butterbeer and was gone in a flash, already running to the other side of the shop to serve a different table. Despite how full the place was, the cacophony soon became white noise to Magnus.

"Eh hem." Halfborn cleared his throat as he stood up, raising his cup in a toast. "We are here today because our dear loser Magnus managed to not only survive the Triwizard Tournament but also win first place!"

Everyone at the table clapped their hands and cheered. After the round of applause (and Alex's long wolf whistle) was over, Halfborn kept going.

"I honestly wouldn't have expected him to win." Magnus frowned mockingly at him, knowing full well he didn't mean what he was saying – his shit-eating grin gave him away. "Kidding, kidding. But," pause for dramatic effect, "we are also here to celebrate the three brave, if stupid, Champions who represented our schools in the Tournament and stayed courageous even when they had to face their worst fears. Literally, too. Thank you for suffering for our entertainment."

Halfborn thrust his glass out to the middle of the table and they all copied him. Thirteen glasses crashed against each other loudly, the liquid inside them sloshing around and even dripping down on the table. They brought the cups to their lips and took deep gulps of the sweet drink, the thick liquid trickling down their throats and leaving behind a nice warm feeling. Yep, definitely not just Butterbeer.

"Honestly though, the part at the Acromantulas' nest was _horrifying,_ " Annabeth said after she lowered her cup, visibly shuddering. Magnus remembered when they were young, maybe around five, and Annabeth would be mortified every time she so much as thought she had seen a spider. Magnus didn't know why she disliked them so much, but it seemed like the feeling was mutual. "I would hate to have to deal with a spider that large, let alone a whole _nest_ of them."

Helga chuckled, the kind of chuckle that said _I've been through hell and back and I'm gonna laugh about it because our existence is futile anyway._ "Yeah, that was horrible. It was like being in the alien's den in a sci-fi anime, only you don't have the main character's plot armor."

"Magnus laughed, along with the rest of their table. "I didn't know you liked anime," he said.

Helga immediately flushed and Agatha giggled at her girlfriend's cute expression. "She does, but she doesn't tell anyone about it," the blonde girl explained with a smile. "You should see her when she starts ranting about a specific episode or something like that. She's non-stop!"

"Agatha!" Helga hissed, her face even redder than before.

"What? You're cute when you're ranting." If possible, that made Helga blush even harder and she whimpered as she hid her face on Agatha's shoulder. Magnus giggled because come on, they were cute.

"She's right about the spiders, though I kind of disliked the one at the lake more," Raphael said. "I'm not good with water, and those tentacles…" Raphael shuddered. " _Ew_."

They all laughed at Raphael's exaggerated sound of disgust, until a very loud, very over the top gasp drew their attention to Percy. "Wait, you don't like water?" He sounded offended, like you had just offended his family, and he sprang into a detailed explanation of everything good about water and the sea in general. Honestly, it sounded like he had practiced this.

The rest of the evening went on like that, friendly banter, jokes, teasing and lots, lots of Butterbeer. Turns out Mallory holds her liquor much better than Halfborn. The night hadn't ended yet and Magnus already knew a lot of new, random things about his friends.

Like how the first gift Amir bought for Sam with his own money back when they were younger was a teddy bear that she still had on her bed, despite its leg having fallen off at least three times. Or how T.J would always carry a water-gun around with him when he was five because he thought a character he saw in a movie was cool and he wanted to be a soldier and protect him mum from bad guys. Or that Halfborn used to have a pet rock named Shirley or that Mallory almost choked because she staffed 29 grapes in her mouth when she was seven on a dare and was since terrified of them. He learned that Percy would sing "Under the Sea" non-stop when he in elementary school and that Alex's favorite Disney movie was "The Emperor's new Groove" (which he should have expected, honestly.) That Agatha could play five different instruments and that she wanted to learn cello because it was like a giant violin, which she thought was cool when she was little and that Helga's favorite anime trope was friends to lovers and that, if you got her started, she wouldn't stop talking about Hunter x Hunter (2011) unless you forced her to stop. That Alya had become best friends with Louis when Raphael first brought him home and that, after he came out and started transitioning, she became his self-appointed bodyguard that would fight anyone who so much as thought about misgendering her future brother-in-law. He also learnt that Raphael pistachio ice-cream, but not actual pistachios and that he once got extra points on a test because he drew the teacher a funny meme on the bottom of the page.

Couple of rounds in and they were all at least tipsy, whether it was because of the Butterbeer or the amount of sugar in the various sweets they ate. Halfborn was telling some random story from university, about what Magnus was exactly sure, and he started wondering whether he got into the school he wanted or not. The reply letter should be arriving any day now, after all.

"Say," Raphael said to Helga and Agatha from where he was draped over Louis's shoulder, "what do you two want to study?"

"I wanna study music," Agatha said, with the kind of ease you had when you said something for the thousandth time.

"I don' know what I wanna do," Helga said. She had moved around in the booth so that she was sitting right next to Agatha with one arm around her waist. "I always assumed I would take on the family business, but that's not happening, so I dunno… Maybe I'll take a gap year. I can do whatever I want now."

"Damn right, you can!" Alex cheered, slapping the table for emphasis. "To hell with stupid parents!"

Helga laughed and raised her glass along with Alex. "To hell with stupid parents!"

"Mmm, I'll miss you, guys!" Mallory whimpered. "We won't see each other as much once the next school year starts!"

Halfborn patted his sad girlfriend's back, but T.J shook his head in disagreement. "Nah ah! We'll see each other as much as we want! You ain't getting rid of me that easy!"

Sam nodded from her seat next to Amir. "Yeah, things are ending because we're finishing Hogwarts! It's a new start!"

Any other time they would have teased her for sounding like a motivational speaker or a parent's pep talk, but they couldn't care less right now. "Yes!" Magnus agreed, raising his cup high (and dropping half its contents by accident in the process). "It's a new start!"

Glasses were lifted up for a toast and the sound of them clanking together resonated in their little corner of Valhalla as they laughed and enjoyed the night.

* * *

The closing ceremony the next day doubled as both the end of the school year and the end of the Triwizard Tournament. The ceremony would take place in the school grounds next to the Big Lake to take advantage of the summer weather and a large stage was set up in front of rows and rows of chairs.

The graduation ceremony took place first. Everybody, students and parents, were in their best clothes for the occasion. The three Headmasters took turns calling up their seventh year students and giving them their diploma (which was charmed to look like a diploma from a random highschool in case a muggle saw it). By the time the ceremony ended the stage was packed full of students and the audience was packed full of crying proud parents.

As the rest of the students left the stage, Magnus, Raphael and Helga waited on the stage like they had been told. They sat at the very back and waited silently until everybody was seated again. Once that finally happened, Headmaster Odin stepped to the front and cleared his throat before starting his speech.

Magnus would have loved to tell you what that speech was, but unfortunately he tuned it out after two minutes. What he could tell you was that it started with a pretty conceited and lightly history lesson about the origin of the Triwizard Tournament. He was sure that was an interesting story, but he didn't really care to listen to it now.

His eyes scanned the crowd until he found Alex and his friends. They were seated somewhere in the middle, between the parents in the back and the important ministry and reporter folk in the front. They took up nearly an entire row on their own and when Alex noticed that he was looking at them, he waved happily. Magnus smiled, making the corners of his eyes crease as he waved back at him.

"Without further ado, it is time to award the three Champions," Headmaster Odin said, _finally_ getting to the point. "At third place, we have Helga Leifsson!"

Helga got up and walked to the front to get her medal, shoulders back and head held high, every bit as confident as when she arrived at Hogwarts and ten times happier. Headmistress Sonia put the bronze medal around her neck and Helga stood proudly as the reporters' cameras flashed. Magnus couldn't see her expression from the back, but Helga's eyes fell on Agatha, who was beaming at her and giving her double thumbs up, and she smiled softly to herself.

"At second place we have Raphael Beaumont!"

Raphael made his way to the front. He kept his chin up and his gait was so confident you'd think he was the undisputed winner. He bowed his head and Headmaster Gilbert put the silver medal around his neck. The crowd went wild for him and, near the back, Alya was clapping for him while standing up on her chair, wolf-whistling and yelling supportive things in French.

"And finally, at first place we have the winner of the Triwizard Tournament, Magnus Chase!"

The crowd didn't clap for him; no, they freaking _roared._ Applause and whistles and cheers filled the air, the cacophony they created louder than a thunderstorm. It was crazy to imagine so many people were clapping for him, that so many people were happy he won. He walked to the front of the stage in a daze, the applause seemingly getting louder with each step. His eyes drifted over the audience as Headmaster Odin gave him his medal. There were so many people – Hogwarts students, their families, reporters and guests, but they weren't the only ones cheering. Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were clapping just as loudly, even if a lot of people were miffed that their Champion hadn't won.

Raphael and Helga smiled at him as the Hogwarts Headmaster gave him the Cup and Magnus smiled back at them. He pulled them closer and hugged them as best as he could while holding the Cup with one arm. He had risked his life (and his mental health) alongside these people and he felt impossibly close to them, even if things didn't start well with one of them.

At last, as the three Champions held up the Cup together, Headmaster Odin made the final declaration of the Tournament.

"The Triwizard Tournament is over!"

As the crowd gets up for a standing ovation, its uproar becoming even more thunderous, big multicolored bubbles floated over the audience. They shined like gems under the summer sun, casting bright colors on the people beneath them. They soon started bursting, spreading a glittering, fine powder over spectators. They air glimmered with every color of the rainbow, the sound of laughter and cheering as loud as church bells.

News reporters and paparazzi had already formed a thick wall around the steps that lead off the stage, each one of them eager to get an exclusive interview with one of the Champions, preferably Magnus or Helga. The Triwizard Tournament was quite popular for a competition between schools, but with the kind of tasks the competitors went through it was expected. Magnus cast a nervous glance at his fellow Champions, the _'how in the name of Merlin's garter belt are we supposed to get through that?'_ clear in his eyes.

"Look confident," Helga whispered. "They can smell fear." Needless to say, that didn't really reassure him.

Still, he tried to mimic Helga's stance as they walked down the steps – shoulders squared, chest out, chin up and looking at every one like you're a lion and they're a tasty gazelle. Magnus probably looked more like a five year old after they first watched _The Lion King_ , but he tried.

Reporters fired questions at them as soon as they set foot on the steps and Magnus would be lying if he said he was able to make out anything they said. It was simply indistinguishable yells, cameras and voice recorders being shoved into his face as the flashes blinded him. Raphael looked just as dazed by it all as him, but Helga managed to keep her cool and politely asked the reporters to let them leave. They didn't seem to have heard her or, if they did, they didn't care. Helga tried to pull Magnus and Raphael out by force, but they were clearly outnumbered.

"Hey, hey, get out of the way, come on!" Alex's green mop of hair cut through the crowd of reporters, the rest of their friends right behind him. She popped through the tight ring of reporters under some lady's armpit and stood in front of Magnus like a mama bear protecting her cubs. The rest of the gang formed a circle around the Champions, glaring openly at the reporters and being as frightening as they could, which – for most of them – wasn't hard at all. (Halfborn was the size of an ox for crying out loud and there was just something very scary about Annabeth's eyes when she glared at people.)

"They don't wanna speak right now, so scram," Alex said plain and simple. Unfortunately, that seemed to have the opposite effect.

"Are you Alexander Fierro by any chance?" A woman near the front asked, pushing the other reporters away and getting way too far into Alex's personal space. "Would you like to tell us something about-"

"I don't want to tell you anything," Alex cut in, voice sharper than the woman's eyeliner. "Now let us pass."

If the news reporters didn't back away on their own, Halfborn and the rest of the Champion Protection Squad™ (also known as CH.P.S) (yes, they needed a better abbreviation) did a good enough job of simply pushing them out of the way by force.

"Thanks for that, guys," Magnus said after they managed to get out of the reporters' vice grip. Goodness, he was having flashbacks to being surrounded by man-eating spiders because of that. It probably wasn't a flattering comparison for the reporters.

"No problem," Louis said. Then, to Raphael, "Did I look scary?"

Raphael leaned in and pecked him on the cheek. "Fierce."

Louis giggled, a light airy sound, and leaned in to kiss Raphael on the lips. Their kiss was sweet and slow and Magnus turned to Alex to give them privacy. _"Je suis si fier de toi,"_ he heard Louis whisper in French and he would hazard a guess that Louis had said "I'm so proud of you".

"So," Alex started as they moved towards the larger buffet table where T.J was once again shoving food into his face, "how does it feel to win the Triwizard Tournament and be accepted into Healing School?"

"Pretty good- wait. Did you say I was accepted into Healing School?"

Alex broke into a wide grin and, to Magnus's amazement, pulled out an envelope from the pocket of his jean (from Blitzen's Best, enchanted so they had Mary Poppins-esque pockets). "This came in yesterday, but I wanted to surprise you after the award ceremony," he said as he held the envelope out to Magnus.

Magnus took it carefully from Alex's hands, as if the paper would dissolve into thin air if he wasn't careful. The envelope was already open, but the letter was put back inside and Magnus pulled it out gingerly. He was met with the ornate insignia of the Wizarding University of London on the top of the page, beautiful golden vines wrapping around a piece parchment and a wand. His eyes skimmed over the letter, compliments about his N.E.W.T.s and his performance in the Tournament, until he found the words he was looking for.

 _You have been accepted into the Healing department of the Wizarding University of London._

Magnus's eyes widened at seeing the actual words and a smiled spread across his face. He got in!

"I got in! I got in!" He said excitedly, gripping onto the letter tightly. Alex's smile got even bigger as he watched Magnus freak out over being accepted into one of the best universities in the UK.

"I told you could do it," he said and kissed Magnus's cheek.

"Did you get in too?" Magnus asked.

"Yep! We'll get to go to the same university!"

Suddenly, before even Magnus himself thought about what he was doing, he was cupping Alex's face and kissing him on deeply on the lips. He only realized what he was doing when he felt Alex's lips move against his own, but Alex didn't pull away, only pull him closer and deepen the kiss.

"Sorry," Magnus said breathlessly when they pulled apart. Their foreheads were still touching but Magnus didn't feel like moving away and neither did Alex. "I just…" He never said _'I'm happy'_ , but he didn't need to.

"It's okay," Alex said. "I'm happy, too."

They stayed close like that for a little longer, neither of them wanting to be the first to pull away. They did so eventually, especially when they noticed one of the photographers taking pictures of them. They wandered off together, their fingers intertwined between them. They were munching on Hogwarts-shaped chocolates by the Lake when Magnus spoke up again.

"So, um," he started, unsure of how to go on about this. He was absentmindedly tracing circles on the back of Alex's hand with his thumb and Alex let himself enjoy the small gesture. "Annabeth told me that her dad wanted to see me, and I was kinda thinking about going over during summer."

"Oh, nice," Alex said as he took a sip from his cup.

"Yeah, and I was wondering… I mean, if you want… do you wanna come too?"

Alex didn't spit his drink. No, that would be ridiculous. He choked on it.

"You want me to come with you to America?" He asked, coughing.

"Yeah, I mean…" Magnus sighed and rubbed at his neck with his free hand. "I asked Annabeth and she said it's okay and it'll be fun, so…?"

Alex beamed at him and kissed him on the lips. "Of course."

Magnus smiled back and kissed Alex again. "This is going to be the best summer."

"Hm, aren't you excited to introduce me to your family?" Alex teased.

"Oh, you'll probably burn a table or break a wall," Magnus said, kissing Alex's mocking pout. "You'll fit right in."

Alex chuckled, his breath warm against Magnus's lips, and squeezed the blonde's hand in his. It would be the best summer, he was sure, because it had been the best year.

Then, suddenly, the relative silence of conversation was interrupted by Raphael's loud yell of, "Here comes the cake!"

Magnus turned around and, sure enough, there was Raphael and Louis pushing a large cart with the biggest cake Magnus had ever seen on top of it. It was even bigger than those triple layered wedding cakes! It was covered in white fondant, multicolored garlands and balloons decorating its edges. They all looked so delicate, down to the last detail. On the sides of each tier were the Three Tasks, each and every one made out of fondant. Magnus didn't want to know how long it took to make, but it looked _spectacular._

"Tada!" Louis said as he jumped out from behind the cart. "I made a cake to celebrate!"

"How… when did you even make this? How long did it even take?" Helga stammered out, staring at the cake's decoration like a painting in a museum.

"Ah, you know, a bit," Louis said, his cheeks coloring bashfully. "But I wanted to do something for the end of the Tournament, so I made my best cake. Dig in!"

House elves gave everybody forks and plates and the Headmasters cut the cake, giving the first three pieces to the Champions. Magnus's last year at Hogwarts ended by eating chocolate cake with his friends, all of them sitting around a table and laughing together.

All was well. And it would get even better.

* * *

 **(Yes, I had to do the 'all was well' thing, come one, you know me) (Also, I've been thinking that I really like the idea of trans!Louis since, like, the Yule Ball but I kept getting caught up in writing something else and forgot that I wanted to write it in until I had already posted the chapter, so sorry for only saying it in the last chapter)**

 **And that's it! I can't tell you how proud I feel right now. I mean, I've been writing this since January and it's finally over. I wonder if that's what it feels likes when your child graduates... So yeah, I feel like a proud mama right now, but part of me knows I'm going to miss the constant stress and anxiety that comes with finding enough time to write and keep an update schedule (it's not bad during summer, but boy, was it something during the school year). I know that sounds bad, but I'm a masochistic shit and I kinda like it anyway.**

 **I'm rambling. Anyway, what I wanted to say is THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you for staying with me for this ride, through writer's block and gratuitous references and /really/ slow slow burn. I can't tell you how much I've loved all your sweet comments, even when you were yelling at me for the slow burn being slower than a snail or how you hated Helga when she first showed up. Honestly, you've spoiled. How am I supposed to go without reading your comments? People have been telling me I seem more confident (my confidence is horrible, btw) or happier and I always think about how fun it was writing Bound X and this and you were all a big part of what made it so fun. So thank you :)**


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